Move Review: Lucy

lucy-scarlett-johansson

At first I was not interested in seeing Lucy. What got me seeing it was all the talk so many people who’ve seen it have said about it. I thought I’d check it out myself.

For those who haven’t seen the movie, it’s about a young woman who goes by the name of Lucy caught in a crime heist by surprise thanks to her shady and no-longer-living boyfriend. She then becomes a drug mule for a set of mind drugs that expands the brain’s use at one time from the alleged normal 10% to as much as 100%. This sets her up with getting even with her crime bosses, connecting with the other drug mules involved and making sense with the human race thanks to a college professor and her own mind’s supernatural ability to travel through time. Sound confusing? Well, you be the judge after you see the movie.

The funny thing about the movie is the whole plot of trying to make a connection between brain use at one time to the evolution of humanity coinciding with a criminal act. It’s a movie that tries to be humorous as in the case of Lucy telling her roommate of her health condition as well as action-filled in the story of as well as try and provoke thought about the human race and people’s ability to think. This is a complicated mix to try and create a good script that can entertain moviegoers.

One thing about the film is that it doesn’t make complete sense. Yes it’s a complicated story and yes there are parts that try to make it make sense over time. In fact the movie looked very ambitious at the beginning and appeared like it would deliver something to think about as the plot unraveled.  However there are many times in which I wonder if it could have been organized out better or even played out better. Like those parts where Lucy connects with the ape-like human from eons ago made me question its purpose and whether it really worked or not. This is one case when I leave the movie theatre thinking of what scenes could have been done better and how. I will give credit to the effort by director/writer Luc Besson given to make such a movie that includes an intriguing story. In fact I found the best thing about the movie is the fact we never know Lucy’s real name. But all the elements included in this story don’t blend together well as a whole. I felt it to be uneven and confusing at times.

The movie did have a lot of positive qualities. The best thing about it had to be the acting. I can’t complain about that. Scarlet Johansson and Morgan Freeman were good in their roles. They knew how to work their roles well otherwise the movie would have come across as completely ridiculous. They also knew how to keep our intrigue to the unfolding events. Choi Min-Sik and Amr Waked also acted well enough to keep the story intriguing and intact. The movies’ special effects were also excellent, and for not even $40 million. The score to the film by Eric Serra also fit the story well.

One thing I have to say about Lucy is that it was actually successful in getting people to talk about the movie’s topics. From the 10% brain-use hypothesis to the belief of evolution, that got a lot of people thinking, despite how disjointed the movie seemed. In fact I myself went to see it after two people I knew mentioned they saw it and gave their comments of what they thought of it. I find it interesting. That’s all I will say. It also paid off at the box office too. It’s still in theatres but it has made almost $125 million in North America and $378 million worldwide. I think the topic of the plot paid off in getting people to come. One feat it has achieved is this is Besson’s highest-grossing film to date.

Lucy is an ambitious science fiction movie that tries to make us think while keeping us fixated on the story and the action along the way. However it’s not all that together of a movie. Attention-grabbing, thought-provoking, but not really together.

My Top 10 Movie Lists: 2002-2010

I’ll admit it’s rather late in the year to post a Top 10 list of movies. Usually most critics post their just before the year ends. The thing with me is I’m not a professional critic. I don’t have access to all the preview DVDs or special screenings. I have to wait until they’re released on the big screen and then see them, or lollygag and wait until the DVD comes out.  This fact explains why I finally have my Top 10 of 2010 out. Anyways I decided to post my other Top 10’s of years past to add to my post for this year so here goes my Top 10 lists:

TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2002

1)THE PIANIST

2)THE HOURS

3)ABOUT SCHMIDT

4)CHICAGO

5)FAR FROM HEAVEN

6)IGBY GOES DOWN

7)SPIRITED AWAY

8 )FRAILTY

9)ADAPTATION

10)GANGS OF NEW YORK

TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2003

1)MYSTIC RIVER

2)LOTR:RETURN OF THE KING

3)LOST IN TRANSLATION

4)KILL BILL Volume 1

5)21 GRAMS

6)THE MAGDALENE SISTERS

7)CITY OF GOD

8 )WHALE RIDER

9)AMERICAN SPLENDOR

10)COLD MOUNTAIN

TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2004

1)MILLION DALLAR BABY

2)CLOSER

3)ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND

4)VERA DRAKE

5)HOTEL RWANDA

6)RAY

7)SIDEWAYS

8 )THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES

9)THE AVIATOR

10)MARIA FULL OF GRACE

TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2005

1)BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

2)CRASH

3)KING KONG

4)GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK

5)DOWNFALL

6)THE SQUID AND THE WHALE

7)TSOTSI

8 )MILLIONS

9)WALK THE LINE

10)CAPOTE

TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2006

1)THE DEPARTED

2)UNITED 93

3)PAN’S LABYRINTH

4)LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

5)BABEL

6) (tie)FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS/LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA

8 )CACHE

9)CHILDREN OF MEN

10)NOTES ON A SCANDAL

TOP 10 MOVIES of 2007

1)THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY

2)NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

3)THERE WILL BE BLOOD

4)THE SAVAGES

5)JUNO

6)AMERICAN GANGSTER

7)GRINDHOUSE: Planet Terror and Deathproof

8 )THE LIVES OF OTHERS

9)ATONEMENT

10)AWAY FROM HER

TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2008

1)SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

2)THE WRESTLER

3)MILK

4)RACHEL GETTING MARRIED

5)FROST/NIXON

6)WALL-E

7)WALTZ WITH BASHIR

8 )FROZEN RIVER

9)HAPPY-GO-LUCKY

10)THE DARK KNIGHT

TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2009

1) PRECIOUS

2) THE HURT LOCKER

3) DISTRICT 9

4) INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

5) (500) DAYS OF SUMMER

6) AVATAR

7) THE HANGOVER

8 ) WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

9) UP

10) UP IN THE AIR

Okay. Enough rambling of past years. Now here’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for:

MY TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2010

1) The Social Network

2)Inception

3)True Grit

4)The King’s Speech

5)Winter’s Bone

6) Black Swan

7)Another Year

8 ) Biutiful

9)Toy Story 3

10)In A Better World

HONORABLE MENTION:

-127 Hours

-The Fighter

-Blue Valentine

-The Kids Are All Right

-Incendies

UPDATE:

It’s 2016 and I’ve noticed a lot of you are still hitting this blogpost. I have published lists of years since. Feel free to click on the links to check the lists out: