July 26th Challenge

Hi it’s Christina –

Good Morning! It’s Saturday. So are you off to do something fun? The beach? The mountains? The lake? I’d love to hear how you are enjoying your summer.

So, Dani and I went to see the movie Lucy yesterday. I wanted to see it, although I would have waited for the dvd release, but since Dani was bored, we went. The concept was cool, and it starred Morgan Freeman, who I adore, so I forked over the $16 for the matinee tickets and the $15 for the soda, popcorn and candy (one of each to share). Eighteen hours later, I’m still not exactly sure what I thought about the movie, but I am leaning toward it was a waste of $31.

The initial credits begin to run, and various nature scenes as well as scientific shots – you know, the watching cells through a microscope kind – appear on the screen, while Professor Norman, Morgan Freeman, does the voice over. Okay, cool, he’s giving us a little history to set up the movie.

Yeah, you know, being the geek I am, I did go back and verify some of the information from the movie. I already debunked the 10% theory yesterday, so I won’t go there, but I did check out their claim that “Lucy” was the first human. Well, Lucy was the name scientist gave AL288-1, which was hundreds of pieces of female human bone discovered by a French geologist in Ethiopia in 1974.

Lucy is played by Scarlett Johansson. For reasons never disclosed, Lucy is a student studying in Taiwan. The scene opens with her and this guy Richard, who she has been dating for a week, arguing in front of a hotel. He is trying to convince her he

cannot go into the building, so she should deliver a briefcase for him. When she resists, he handcuffs it to her, so she is forced to make the delivery, because, of course, the only one who has the keys to the cuffs is the intended recipient of the briefcase. Predictable, obvious, we’ve all seen it before.

She walks to the front desk, asks for person she is supposed to give the briefcase to, and then we enter bizarro-world. I should have known, but I was still hanging on to hope. The scene kept flipping back and forth between Lucy in the lobby with the bad guys approaching, and a gazelle being stalked by cheetahs in the Serengeti.

The Korean mobsters - hey wait, I thought they were in Taiwan, why are the mobsters Korean? - drag Lucy to a room where she is forced to open the briefcase herself to make sure it isn’t a bomb. It isn’t, though it probably should have been. Inside the case are four packets, roughly 1,000 grams each, of synthetic CPH4, the next new party drug.

Yup, I looked that one up too. CPH4 is an actual chemical compound – carboxytetrahydropterin. However, chemistry was never my forte, so I have no clue if this is a purely manufactured compound or if, as the movie claims, is a naturally occurring one, which happens within a pregnant woman’s body.

SPOILER ALERT – If you are planning on seeing the movie, don’t read the next four paragraphs.

The Korean mob boss turns Lucy and three other men into mules to smuggle the drug out of Taiwan, by surgically implanting the bags of drugs into their abdomens. They are told someone would be waiting for them when they returned to their countries – USA, Germany, France & Italy – to remove the drugs, and then they would be free to go.

Again for reasons unclear, Lucy is taken to a warehouse of sorts instead of to the airport. There, after she slaps away the hand of thug who attempted to fondle her, she is smacked to the ground and repeatedly kicked – where else, but in the stomach. Of course, the bag in her abdomen ruptures, the CPH4 gets into her system, but instead of killing her, it opens up her brain.

A newly enlightened Lucy, breaks away from her captors, commandeers an operating room to have the drugs removed, and has a tearful conversation with her mother on the phone WHILE the drugs are being pulled out of her stomach. Then she goes, kills a bunch of thugs, reads the mob boss’ mind – after she pinned his hands to a chair with knives – and learns the destinations of the other three mules. Can someone tell me why she wouldn’t have just killed the mob boss while she could? You know he’s going to be royally POed and go after her.

She then gets in contact with Professor Norman, tells him she’s on her way to meet him. She contacts a French police captain and enlists his help. There are shoot outs, a high speed race through the streets of Paris, a failed attempt at romance between Lucy and the cop, magical qualities which miraculously appear as Lucy’s brain capacity nears 100%, time travel, metamorphosis, bad guys dead, good guys survive, and Lucy disappears and becomes everything. Hmmm, so if we can achieve 100% brain capacity, we will essentially become God. Oh boy.

OKAY END OF THE SPOILER, YOU CAN READ AGAIN.

Honestly, I had my eyes rolling so many times during this movie, I’m surprised they didn’t roll out of my head. The “science” was not believable. Lucy, who initially comes across as a drugged up party girl, really too old to be in college but you’re supposed to believe she is, person to suddenly having all this knowledge is a joke. In order to access your brain’s knowledge, there had to be some there to start with, no?

The director was probably sampling some of the CPH4 when coming up with the cinematography, the storyline is full of holes and contradictions, and unfortunately, the acting was mediocre at best. It’s such a shame, because the concept had such potential, the director just dropped the ball. In my humble opinion, save your money.

Not my usual blog, but I considered this a public service announcement.

Even though I hit my Camp NaNo goal, Faerie Tale Queen is not finished, so I am going to take advantage of the quiet, currently blanketing my home, while I can. I hope you have a great day, and happy writing!

Your Last Challenge was:

Fire lit the night sky…

Precisely twenty five feet in diameter. Flames twenty five feet high. Twenty five shrouded figures, cloaked by darkness just beyond the fire’s glow, encircle the field. A low hum begins and grows as the figures begin their creep toward the dancing flames. In unison they step forward. The leader begins to chant. Half respond. The other half echoes the response. They near the fire. The chant grows. Louder. Faster. The figures begin to sway. The air vibrates. The flame soars and fire lights the night sky. Frenzied. Faster. Louder. Cries fill the air. Then… silence. The flame returns to its controlled twenty five feet. The leader, flanked by his four disciples, turn their back to the flame and recede into the darkness. The sacrifice, complete. Tomorrow they will start their quest for twenty new followers.

Your Next Challenge is:

A conversation between two animals…

You have ten minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count, and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.