Luc Besson‘s "Lucy" opened this weekend, and if there was any doubt that audiences want to see Scarlett Johansson kick ass, those were put to rest. The movie outmuscled the Dwayne Johnson-starring "Hercules" for the top spot, and even managed to score better-than-expected reviews (including ours). Indeed, the critical community hasn’t been this kind to a Besson film in years, and perhaps it has to do with the overall ambition of the film.
Over the weekend, the filmmaker’s Statement Of Intent—presumably from press notes or other materials from the film—started being tossed around online, and it draws some quick parallels for those looking to quickly understand his action thriller. He describes the shifting tones and narrative of the movie as going from "Leon The Professional" to "Inception" to "2001: A Space Odyssey." And while I haven’t caught up with "Lucy" yet (I will, if only because it has the great "Borgen" and "A Hijacking" star Pilou Asbaek in a small role) most reviews do say the final third of the movie is totally bonkers. Even our own critic called it "complete Looney Tunes, a whirling fantasia of effects and images that begins to bend the fabric of space and time." On the level of Kubrick? Probably not…
But still, what do you think? Is Besson shooting for the moon here, or is on to something with these comparisons? Hit us up in the comments section.
La note d’intention de Luc Besson pour #Lucy pic.twitter.com/YGrc12l2lN
— Filmosphere (@FilmosphereCom) July 26, 2014