Reviews: Scarlett Johansson Saves Luc Besson's Messy "Lucy"

Let’s talk about Lucy. Luc Besson’s latest sci-fi/action/horror/mess has so far been described as anything from unscientific to outlandish to downright laughable. So far critics have decried the plot, interspersed with gratuitous stock footage of hunting cheetahs (no, really) as a “frantic exercise in pseudoscience and goofball metaphysics” (The Chicago Reader). Still, even its worst critics admit that Lucy has its strong points – Scarlett Johansson’s performance being the strongest. Based mostly on her acting, The Telegraph's review goes as far as to call Lucy "the blockbuster of the summer."

If nothing else, Lucy is worth seeing for Scarlett Johansson alone.

According to _Den of Geek’_s Ryan Lambie, Johansson is “the magnet which holds Besson’s bonkers storyline together. The genre elements may scratch up against one another or sometimes collapse entirely, but Johansson remains a relateable, likeable lead, even when her character does things that go against the grain of a leading lady somewhat.”

Some note that Johansson is underserved by her role. While she delivers a disturbingly realistic performance as a trapped and terrified young woman in Taipei, forced to become a drug mule by the local drug kingpin, her character development just isn’t that impressive to some.

Watch the trailer for Lucy below.

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Besson also manages to justify most of the film’s not-so-scientific moments. And if viewers can get past those, Lucy generally holds up as a solid, if chaotic action flick with an engaging lead – definitely worth the admission price. Lucy is out in the UK on August 22.