Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Luc Besson's Lucy - Trailer and Discussion

The trailers for Luc Besson's new film, "Lucy," looks interesting, the synopsis for the film is pretty sparse, however it boils down to:


"Lucy, an action-thriller that tracks a woman accidentally caught in a dark deal who turns the tables on her captors and transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic"  

Written and directed by Luc Besson Lucy is another one of his fun films that defy logic but are meant purely for entertainment purposes..  Besson is responsible for the Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich Sci-Fi action film "The Fifth Element," "Léon: The Professional" with Jean Reno and Natalie Portman.  Both films featured Gary Oldman playing the villain. Before that he wrote and directed "La Femme Nikita"  He co-wrote and directed the script for "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc." The film starred his wife at the time Milla Jovovich. Besson is more prolific as a writer than a director. 

Besson has written, or has co-written double the scripts than he has directed.  Besson wrote "The Transporter" films which stars Jason Statham and he co-wrote "Colombiana" starring Zoe Saldana of "Star Trek" fame.  In 2008 he wrote the Liam Neeson film "Taken" and in 2012 he scripted the sequel "Taken 2" and "Lockout" staring Guy Pearce. Maggie Grace co-starred in all three of those films. . Last year he directed the Mafia comedy "The Family."  The movie  starred Tommy Lee Jones, Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert DeNiro.  Earlier this year, Besson wrote the McG directed action-film "3 Days to Kill" starring Kevin Costner. 



Starring as the title character is the thirty year-old Scarlett Johansson. She has played many diverse roles in her budding career.  In 1998 (seems like a long time ago) she played the traumatized Grace MacLean in "The Horse Whisperer." Ten years ago she starred with Bill Murray in "Lost in Translation," then the same year starred as the model for Vermeer's painting in "Girl with a Pearl Earring."  She starred in Michael Bay's "The Island" with Ewan McGregor.  A few years later, in 2008 Johansson starred with Natalie Portman in the Reformation era drama "The Other Boleyn Girl." Johansson played Portman's sister, Mary, the Boleyn sister that history doesn't speak much about. Scarlett has worked with Woody Allen in his 2008 drama "Vicky Cristina Barcelona."  Recently, she has emerged as an action hero in "Iron Man 2" with Robert Downey Jr. and company, and again in "The Avengers."  She played actress Janet Leigh opposite Anthony Hopkins in "Hitchcock." Last year she played Gordon-Levitt's bitchy and demanding girlfriend in "Don Jon." 




Based solely on the trailers above, one could gather that Lucy is kidnapped during a wild night of partying.  Instead of waking up with just a headache or finding herself in a bathtub filled with ice wondering why there is a scar on her side, it is apparent that someone is forcing her to act as a drug mule.  Morgan Freeman (of just too many things to list)  tells us that because of the drug that was put inside of her, Lucy is beginning to access parts of her brain that humans have not used before.



"What happens when she reaches 100%"  Morgan Freeman's character, Professor Norman simply says "I don't know."  Besson draws references from 2004's "María, Llena Eres de Gracia" ("Maria Full of Grace") sad tale of a girl forced to become a drug mule. Unfortunately for the girl, the drugs begin to leak into her stomach.  Some may see references to either "The Matrix"  or to "Æon Flux."  Elements from two films from 2011 "Limitless" and "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" where a someone creates a drug that increases intelligence stand out.  However, we could reference that further back to the 1968 film "Charly."  Based on the novel "Flowers for Algernon."  I am wondering if Besson also references Robert A. Heinlein's "Friday" character?


Luc Besson's Lucy opens this Friday July 25, 2014

Movie Data
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi 
Year:  2014
Staring:  Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Min-sik Choi, Amr Waked 
Director: Luc Besson
Producer(s):Virginie Silla
Writer: Luc Besson
Rating: R
Running Time: 90 minutes
Release Date: 7/25/2014

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