French action-thriller aficionado Luc Besson (The Fifth Element) fires out his best film in twenty years – since the Jean Reno-starring Leon – which helps propel Scarlett Johansson into A-list territory as the leading star and titular character.
For the most part this is a cleverly crafted, high-octane, gun-totting actioner, that sees Johansson’s innocent American abroad go ‘nuts’ after ingesting a new synthetic drug – that allows her to use 100% of the brain’s capacity compared to the usual 10% – then seek revenge on her Taiwanese captors.
She turns into a merciless kick-ass femme fatale – with skills arguably superior to her Avengers’ Black Widow character – after being set-up as a drug mule to Min-Sik Choi’s psychotic bad guy Mr Jang, and then goes globe-trotting to locate the substance – and find if there’s a cure via Morgan Freeman’s expert Professor Norman.
As Lucy gets stronger – using mind-powers and super-human killer accuracy – so does the film’s likeability factor, and by the end you’re so exhausted you feel like you could have taken the brain-bending drug with her, as Johansson revels in her role.
And even though it has an overcooked ending that takes the premise a little too far, there’s an enjoyable erraticism and deliciously-violent coolness to Besson’s return-to-form – which makes it a spot-on cinematic spectacle for the obvious demographic.
Referencing the classic Fifties TV series . . . I Love Lucy.
Visit www.showcasecinemas.co.uk for the latest up-to-date showtimes for Peterborough Showcase. You can also join the chat on Twitter @showcasecinemas or on Facebook by searching for ‘Showcase Cinemas UK’.
Gavin Miller
[youtube id=”f1C9VF17ESs” width=”600″ height=”350″]
Comments