lucyThe new sci-fi action flick Lucy easily breaks the mold of conventional non-conventional films.

Lucy

The new sci-fi action flick Lucy easily breaks the mold of conventional non-conventional films. The fact that it doesn't really know what it wants to be is the very thing that makes it likeable.Some critics will pan it for the same reason many will applaud it.It is nearly three movies in one. Not only will the story line bend your frontal lobe but it will visually assault you then come to an abrupt halt and give you a chance to think about life and human nature. It is safe to say that you have never seen anything like it before.

Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) is a normal woman who ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time and must now smuggle an experimental drug for a ruthless dealer.But the bad guys get more than they expected when the drug turns Lucy into a killing machine beyond anything ever imagined. This is the part that feels like an overcharged Asian influenced action flick. Lots of gun play, fist fights, and blood splatter. Violence is job one. Enter Professor Norman (Morgan Freeman). He is the foremost authority on the human brain and how it is used. We only use about 10% of our cerebral capacity so when Lucy starts reaching limits that even science cant anticipate we get the sci-fi part of the story.

The movie jumps from one element to another. One second Lucy is putting rounds of ammo into the bad guys and the next she is coming to grips with the ability to see energy and use her new brain to control matter. Her conversations with Norman are deep and philosophical. These moments almost feel like a documentary into the human psyche; a study of evolution and how even with the small amount of brain we use we still seek the wrong things in life. The voice of Freeman makes it even more Discovery Channel.You start to believe that what he is saying is factual and it causes you to evaluate your life. Then the guns start blazing and you a jerked back to the killing machine that is Lucy.

Many will be upset at the lack of focus the film seems to have. They will want one style or the other. But the fact that the film is many things makes it stand out. It certainly takes chances and the decisions it makes are risky. It could really upset audiences. But those willing to embrace all the elements and enjoy each for what they are will find it innovative, even in the times of implausibility. Yes there are moments of Johansson looking into space with this RCA Dog look on her face. She even seems awkward in the moment. Plus the Hong Kong style violence often explodes in comic farce.

Lucy is rated R for strong violence, disturbing images, and sexuality. Take away the in your face violence and it would be PG-13. But I think it was a smart call to make this as brutal as possible to offset the moments of cerebral sci-fi. There is very little or no adult language and the sexuality is at a minimum. So just know that it is the violence that you have to be ready for. I give it 3.5 out of 5 Jedi moments. The ten percent of my brain that got it, dug it.

Review copyright 2014 Mungleshow Productions. Used by Permission.