Movie Review: ‘Lucy’ Starring Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman

Don’t be fooled by the trailer for Lucy, the latest film from director Luc Besson. It looks like a sci­fi, action thriller; yet what it really is, is a mean-­spirited, unexciting train wreck.

Scarlett Johansson stars as Lucy. One of my big problems with the film is that we are introduced to Lucy at the beginning of the film when her douschebag boyfriend handcuffs a briefcase to her wrist, forcing her to deliver it to a group if Chinese drug dealers. Lucy winds up getting knocked out by the drug dealers, waking up to find they have surgically implanted a bag of synthetic drugs in her abdomen.

The action scenes are nothing to write home about, as Johansson’s character is so unlikable, some of the audience was actually rooting for her demise. Besson drops the ball, as there is no emotional connection between Lucy and the audience. I couldn’t have cared less what happened to her. In fact, she comes across as more of a sociopath than anything.

Morgan Freeman is totally pointless to the film, other than lending his voice and playing his typical “Morgan Freeman” character. Besson could have put anyone into Freeman’s role and it wouldn’t have made the film any worse.

Besson is responsible for one of the best action films in the last 20 years, The Professional. That film had great characters played by Natalie Portman, Jean Reno and Gary Oldman. It was a gripping, yet exciting film. Lucy is none of that. The acting is nothing special. The effects are lazily done, and Besson’s story telling is offensive. It’s almost as if he assumes the audience is filled with dumb people, when in actuality, it’s his film that is just plain dumb.

Lucy gets a D­.