The sci-fi layer of “Lucy” largely overshadows all the others, and those are multiple: action, romance, drama, adventure. Unsure about the correctness of neuroscientific facts behind the film, those that state that humans use only a small portion of their brain capacity, I must say that I wasn’t able to surpass all the skepticism towards them. This led to my continuous rationalization and thinking about just how science and the lead-scientist, played by Morgan Freeman, were too romanticized. The more I listened to his speech and saw his involvement in the entirety of the story, the more I was seeing him as the epitome of the damned scientist, the devoted dreamer who believes in exalted ideas such as knowledge being the supreme reason of human existence. I failed to adopt the suspension of disbelief that Coleridge talked to us about; but regardless of my willingness, this unrealistic and rather poetic portrayal of science and a scientist, turned me into a resisting viewer that still required to be convinced.
In the film we follow Lucy, played by Scarlett Johansson, that was sent to deliver a significant amount of the new drug called CPH4 to a Japanese sadistic drug-lord. A bag of 500 grams was then introduced to her abdomen without her consent and she was forced to carry it to another country. But at one point, the bag broke and the drug started leaking in her bloodstream. As a result, she began experiencing a range of strange reactions: she became fearless, hyper-sensitive to all the stimulations as her senses sharpened, her motor skills were enhanced, and she stopped feeling physical pain. She then managed to contact the scientist who advised her on her life mission: the transmission of knowledge she possesses to others.
Which is exactly what she does: after collecting all the other bags of the drug that were being carried by the other three drug mules, Lucy meets with the scientist and a group of his colleagues to whom she explains the way that human existence is based on our restrained perception of the world around us. By reaching a full mental capacity, Lucy transforms into a USB flash drive, which consists of all the knowledge humans weren’t able to acquire using only a small percentage of their brain potential. All the laws of nature and their understanding were given to humanity as her legacy.
Morgan Freeman and Scarlett Johannson in “Lucy” (EuropaCorp, 2014).
The action dimension of the film adds an amount of adrenaline and unpredictability, as we learn, at the same time as Lucy does, all the powers she now has: telekinesis, telepathy, hologram, and self-morphing capabilities being the ones exploited the most. Unable to be weak, mostly in a physical sense, Lucy basically becomes a humanoid. She comes to a conclusion that all human weaknesses represent nothing more but obstacles. At one point she actually says that all the things that make us human, are primitive, instinctive, and biological. The thing that contradicts Lucy’s metamorphosis is the fact that she seems to feel empathy throughout the whole story. She still is able to distinguish good from evil and retains the regard for human life: she seems to be somewhat attracted to the French policeman who helped her track down the rest of the drug produced, decides to kill a cancer patient only after she’s convinced that he didn’t have a chance to survive, helps her friend with latent health problems, and has an emotional conversation with her mother.
These inconsistencies and fallacies contribute to the overall impression of the film that leaves much to be desired. Probably a deeper examination of the science behind it would bring to the fore an even larger spectrum of misconceptions. That’s the base one can’t build upon a great science-fiction/action film. On the other hand, the picture is decent enough and some of the basic motifs of an action film are incorporated: the polarization of a good and a bad guy, the revenge element, high-speed chase through the city, high-tech weaponry, life-risking situations, a hint of romance, and a noble objective. The adventuristic side of the film lies in the exotic, foreign surroundings, and a portion of action happens in planes or airports. It can’t be overlooked, however, that this film, scientifically inaccurate, penetrates the domain of fantasy, that allows it to explore some unrealistic outcomes, nurturing the myth of an übermensch in a futuristic context. Unfortunately, even fantasy provides us with the proof of its credibility, which is where Lucy fails.
