Lucy is an intense, fast-paced, gun-toting, femme-fatale ride '€” laced with rabid psychedelia and '€œscience'€
set up on a foundation of suspension of disbelief and disregard of logic.

Starring the skyrocketing actress Scarlett Johansson, the movie is the latest brainchild from French action-thriller master Luc Besson, the writer and director.

Under Besson, Johansson is looking to cement a reputation for taking risks, which she has already shown in performances as a sentient computer operating system in Her and an alien seductress in Under the Skin (both released in 2013) as well as by portraying the Black Widow in The Avengers.

Although Lucy is built on a flimsy foundation of disapproved, oft-cited urban myths and snobbish philosophy, its captivating delivery glues the audience to the edge of their seats '€” and their eyes on the screen.

Besson'€™s plot hangs on the myth that humans only make use of a fraction of their brain capacity and that any person who can tap into the unused potential will turn into a being defying all earthly descriptions.

The thriller follows the titular character, Lucy (Johansson), a clueless young American who lives in Taipei.

Her questionable boyfriend cons her into working as a drug mule for Korean mob boss Mr. Jang (Choi Min-sik), who is looking to introduce a new drug to the international market.

Bad guy: Choi Min-sik '€” who headlined Park Chan-wook'€™s Oldboy '€” plays the heavy in Lucy. (Universal Pictures)

Under threat by the mob, Lucy and three European men are to smuggle a new drug called CPH4 '€” contained in a plastic bag and put inside their abdomens '€” into their respective countries.

While waiting for her flight, Lucy is kept inside a locked room where one of the mob henchmen sexually and physically abuses her. Lucy is kicked in her stomach, breaking the bag and releasing the drug into her blood stream.

As it enters her system, Lucy begins acquiring enhanced physical and mental capabilities, such as telepathy, telekinesis and mental movement across time and space.

Lucy frees herself from the mob and goes to a hospital to get the bag safely removed by a surgeon, who tells her that the drug is highly destructive and she may not have much time to live.

Rapidly turning herself into a demigod, Lucy decides to track the three other drug mules to recover the substance from them.

Lucy utilizes her increasing omniscience to locate and mentally communicate with Samuel Norman (Morgan Freeman) in Paris. The scientist'€™s research may give answers to what will happen to her and how to save her life.

Lucy then has detective Pierre Del Rio (Amr Waked) find and secure the other three drug bags. She later takes a flight to Paris to retrieve the bags and meet with Norman.

Her powers rapidly grow as she taps into more of her brain'€™s capacity by the hour. Meanwhile,
Mr. Jang and his underling manage to track Lucy and the drugs and are ready to reclaim them by any means.

Creating violent action as well as dramatic sequences with pseudo-philosophical dialogue, Besson paid homages to Stanley Kubrick'€™s 2001: A Space Odyssey and the Wachowski Brothers'€™ The Matrix.

Besson successfully delivers in the visuals and actions department '€” and also with a tinge of French comedy. For the plot, however, not so much.

It is best to put your brain at low capacity to enjoy this stupidly stupendous suspense movie.

Lucy
Director and writer: Luc Besson
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Amr Waked, Choi Min-sik, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Pilou Asbæk, Analeigh Tipton, Nicolas Phongpheth
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Length: 89 minutes