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
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.
