Loo-see

Well, this is what happens when we don't get a Black Widow movie. Other people make action movies featuring Scarlett Johannson.

Because this movie is short, it gets to the point quickly. We know from the trailer that Lucy gets drugs put inside her which then infects her... and yep, that's exactly what happens in the first act, and it gets done quickly. There are cuts of Professor Norman to bring in his character, and there's a lot of background exposition, but still we quickly get to the action scenes of Lucy going hard. And surreal. This is Luc Besson, so we get a lot of imagery, with some of it so obvious it's Lord Privy Seal, and other times you need to know fairly obscure cosmic theory to get what's happening.

And let's take a moment to talk about the "10%" problem. The movie makes it clear that it is talking about "cranial capacity"... but what the hell does that mean? And it certainly doesn't address the misconception. They could have had someone directly reference it if the movie is trying to distinguish itself from that myth, but nope. And then what happens when you start using more... not even Morgan Freeman can make that credible. I don't care how much brain power is chugging along, you aren't doing the things in the trailer.

What is really going on is "being in tune with the universe", which isn't much better, but they could have phrased it like that instead of going for cranial capacity.

Acting wise, we get some great performances, but Scarlett Johansson is clearly doing the heavy lifting... and not quite managing it. Not on her, that, but the script is asking us to buy some big supposed revelations, and that just isn't happening. Just because someone says something that could be philosophical and awe-inspiring doesn't mean it is.

A pretty movie that is trying to make a point that switches between being a blunt sledgehammer and so sharp it cuts itself.

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