Lucy

I’ve never been one for drugs but I imagine Lucy is best described as a bad trip.

Luc Besson’s latest effort features Scarlett Johansson in the titular role and Morgan Freeman as world-leading scientist Professor Samuel Norman. But even the combined star power of The Avengers star and the world’s most regonisable voice can’t stop this film from descending into a farce.

Highly successful French director Besson sprung to Hollywood’s attention with his 1997 effort The Fifth Element but more recently produced The Transporter and the Taken series.

He forces you to keep an open mind, and as shown by the films of which he has directorial, screen-writing and production credits he isn’t afraid to go all out on action and leave plausibility at a minimum.

Lucy not only forces an open mind; it blows it apart.

But not in a good way.

The ambitious film explores the idea of humans using only 10% of their brain power, and attempts to show what could be possible if one person accessed the full 100%.

We are thrust straight into the story, with Lucy forced to cooperate with a drug deal which goes horribly wrong.

She is made a drug mule without her consent, and she (and three other men) are forced to fly to four different world destinations with a bag of drugs sown into their stomachs to complete the deal.

Lucy is kept in captivity but passed to a new group, and it all goes downhill once the new gang’s leader literally lays the boot in, splitting the bag inside her stomach and allowing the drug into her system.

The drug itself is interesting. Dubbed CPH4, the drug is a highly valuable synthetic that essentially unlocks the 90% of the brain we don’t use.

As it is absorbed into Lucy’s system, she begins experiencing heightened abilities, and it all goes downhill very quickly from there.

For the next 70-odd minutes we’re taken on a wild ride across Europe as Lucy races to stop the other three packages from reaching their intended receivers.

But for the same 70-odd minutes we’re left wondering what the hell is going on.

 Lucy’s sole saving grace is an awesome car chase through the streets of Paris that is highly unbelievable but highly entertaining.

Yes, it is quite simple to follow how Lucy accesses more of her brain power thanks to the massive white numbers on a black background that pop up throughout the film, but the presentation is so ridiculous you spend it scratching your head and deciding whether or not to walk out.

I’m glad to say my record of not leaving films early still stands, but Lucy is the closest I’ve ever been to an early exit.