.jpg)
I should probably preface this review with the fact that I am a Psychology graduate, so I'm not exactly naive in terms of the inner workings of the brain and all that kind of stuff (I should also probably say that I am no expert either so don't judge me on what you are about to read, it's just an opinion).
This films tells the story of Lucy (as if you hadn't already
guessed that), a student in Taiwan who gets dragged into a dodgy drug deal by
her new boyfriend. He gets shot and she is forced to become a drug mule for a
Taiwanese Drug lord who has surgically inserted the drugs into her torso to
ensure their undetected entrance into the US of A. However, Lucy (Scarlett
Johansson) is captured by some pretty nasty looking men and kicked in the gut a
few times causing the drug bag to split and leak its contents into her blood
stream. The drug the n begins to unlock her full brain capacity and as the
story unfolds we are shown what would happen in humans could use all of their
brains instead of just the 10% we naturally have access to. With the help of
Morgan Freeman, she sets out to seek revenge on her captors, but also to
realise the full potential of the drug that is changing her life.
So now you've read the synopsis, let’s take a look at what
actually happens *SPOILER*. In short, Scarlett Johansson kills a ton of people
for no apparent reason and then turns herself into a computer. Yup, that’s
right. It turns out (according to the creative minds behind this movie) that
unlocking more of our brain capacity will lead to lack of emotion, sudden
ability to be a martial arts expert and, once we reach those higher
percentages, the ability to control gravity, electricity, other people and time
and space in its entirety. Then we will turn into a weird black glue and hand
Morgan Freeman a memory stick which essentially contains our brain. Sounds fun,
right?
To say that the plot of this film is ridiculous would be a vast
understatement. Whilst there are certain elements that I can just about wrap my
head around and believe to be potentially possible such as an ability to see
electricity or the recall of every memory ever had, there are other elements
that are just fantastical beyond belief. Surely, there is no possible way that,
no matter how much of a person’s noggin they are using, that they would ever be
able to somehow control a computer half way around the world with their mind,
or access other people’s memories just by touching them and definitely not
travel through time as easily as swiping through pages on an iPhone.
Then there’s the whole element of having physical control over how
the body looks. Throughout the film, Lucy changes her appearance at will, from
hair colour and eye colour to the physical shape of her limbs and features. What?
There is no way that this is actually possible. I am fairly certain that if I
somehow managed to unlock my brain’s potential, I wouldn’t then suddenly be able
to make myself a few inches taller just by thinking about it, or make myself skinny
within the blink of an eye.
Whilst some of the basic scientific elements of the film may lay
the foundations for people to believe that what they are about to see if
possible, the fantasy soon takes over from the reality and quickly takes a swan
dive into the grandiose, perplexing and just plain idiotic losing every level
of originality and believability.
Now I know it’s a sci-fi film and it’s not supposed to be
realistic, but if you are going to spend the first 10 minutes having Morgan
Freeman tell us all of this scientific waffle about the brain capacity and
fulfilling its potential, then at least keep one foot rooted in the actual facts
for the rest of the film.
To look at the rest of the film for a moment, the
special effects are pretty impressive, I will give it that much. They come from
an unusual angle not often seen in movies and add to the ‘creativity’ of the
rest of the film in the best possible way, not outshining the story but working
well alongside it. The actors too give decent performances. Nothing special,
but they have done well with the material they have been given I guess. Also,
purely in directorial terms, Luc Besson has steered the ship well. The story
does flow and moves at a pace that is enjoyable for those watching without
being too fast and confusing.
However, no matter how many good elements there are
to this story, the plot simply cannot be excused. Not only is there all of crap
that I mentioned earlier, but there are parts of the movie that are inexcusable
from anyone’s perspective. For example, in a scene early on in the film, Lucy
manages to walk into a hospital covered in blood and holding a massive gun in
her hand and no one bats and eyelid. Later in the film, a bunch of Taiwanese
gangsters are outside a hospital loading rifles, handguns and rocket launchers
when a load of policemen pull up, run past and don’t even give them a second
glance. There’s unrealistic and then there’s just plain lazy. At least make it
look like the guns are hidden or something. It’s really not the difficult.
Overall, you've probably gathered that I'm not a
fan. The story is too preposterous, even for me, and there are simply too many
elementary mistakes. A suggestion I would make is that if you want to watch a
film about brain power and unlocking the minds potential, go for something like
‘Limitless’.
.png)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)