Lucy (2014 film)

Last updated

Lucy
Lucy (2014 film) poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Luc Besson
Written byLuc Besson
Produced by Virginie Besson-Silla
Starring
Cinematography Thierry Arbogast
Edited byJulien Rey
Music by Éric Serra
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 25 July 2014 (2014-07-25)(United States) [1]
  • 6 August 2014 (2014-08-06)(France) [2]
Running time
90 minutes [3]
Country
Languages
  • English
  • Taiwanese Mandarin
  • Korean
  • French
Budget$40 million [5]
Box office$469 million [5]

Lucy is a 2014 English-language French science fiction action film [5] written and directed by Luc Besson for his company EuropaCorp, and produced by his wife, Virginie Besson-Silla. It is an English-language film shot in Taipei, Paris, and New York City. It stars Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Choi Min-sik, and Amr Waked. Johansson portrays the titular character, a woman who gains psychokinetic abilities when a nootropic, psychedelic drug is absorbed into her bloodstream.

Contents

The film was released on 25 July 2014 and became a massive box office success, [6] grossing over $469 million worldwide, more than eleven times the budget of $40 million. It received generally positive, but also polarized, critical reviews. Although praise was given for its themes, visuals, and Johansson's performance, many critics found the plot nonsensical, especially its focus on the ten percent of the brain myth and resulting abilities. [6] [7] [8]

Plot

Lucy is an American studying in Taipei, Taiwan. Her new boyfriend Richard tricks her into working as a drug mule for a South Korean kkangpae and drug lord, and she delivers a briefcase containing four packets of the highly valuable synthetic drug CPH4 to Mr. Jang.

After witnessing Richard being shot and killed, she is captured and a bag of the drug is forcibly sewn into her abdomen in order to transport the drug to Europe. While in captivity, she is kicked in the stomach, breaking the bag and releasing a large quantity of the drug into her system. She acquires increasingly enhanced physical and mental capabilities, such as telepathy, telekinesis, mental time travel, and the ability to feel no pain. She also becomes both ruthless and emotionless. Using her new abilities, she kills her captors and escapes.

Lucy travels to the nearby Tri-Service General Hospital to get the bag of drugs removed from her abdomen. She is told by the operating doctor that natural CPH4 is produced in tiny quantities by pregnant women during their sixth week of pregnancy to provide fetuses with the energy to develop. Growing heightened physical and mental abilities, Lucy returns to Mr. Jang's hotel, kills his bodyguards, assaults him, and telepathically extracts the locations of the three remaining drug mules from his brain.

Lucy begins researching her condition and contacts scientist Samuel Norman whose research may be the key to saving her. After Lucy speaks with Norman (and provides proof of her developed abilities) she flies to Paris and contacts local police captain Pierre Del Rio to help her find the remaining three packets of the drug. During the flight, she starts to disintegrate as her cells destabilize from consuming a sip of champagne. To stave off her disintegration Lucy ingests more of the drug. With the help of Del Rio, Lucy is able to recover the rest of the drugs. Meeting Norman and his colleagues, she agrees to share with them everything she knows.

In the professor's lab, Lucy discusses the nature of time and life and how people's humanity distorts their perceptions. At her urging, she is intravenously injected with the contents of all three remaining bags of CPH4. Her body changes into a black substance that begins spreading over computers and other electronic objects in the lab, transforming them all into one next-generation supercomputer. She mentally begins a spacetime journey into the past, eventually reaching the oldest discovered ancestor of mankind, Lucy. She shares a quiet moment with Australopithecus Lucy and the two touch fingertips, she then goes all the way to the beginning of time and witnesses the Big Bang. Meanwhile, Jang enters the lab and points a gun at Lucy's head. He shoots, but by that point Lucy has reached 100% of her brain capacity and promptly disappears, moving into the spacetime continuum. Only her clothes and the black supercomputer are left behind.

Del Rio enters and fatally shoots Jang. Norman takes a black flash drive offered by the supercomputer, after which it too disintegrates. Del Rio asks Norman where Lucy is, immediately after which Del Rio's cell phone sounds and he sees a text message: "I am everywhere." Lucy's voice is heard stating "Life was given to us a billion years ago. Now you know what to do with it."

Cast

Speaking of Besson's "interest in making the film one about the way we interact with our environment, and socially as well," Silla said that one of the goals was to bring together a diverse cast to show the planet's diversity and a mixture of the different cultures. She stated, "So we have Scarlett Johansson, who is Caucasian, Morgan Freeman, who is African-American, Min-Sik Choi, who is from Korea, and Amr Waked, who hails from Egypt." [9]

Production

Writing

Besson stated that he intended for the first part of Lucy to be like Léon: The Professional (which he also wrote and directed), the second part to be like Inception and the third part to be like 2001: A Space Odyssey. [16]

He was intrigued by the brain capacity of Lucy, a female Australopithecus afarensis , stating that her brain weight was only 400g, and modern human brains weigh in around 1.4 kg. "I was very interested with all the science," he said. "When I learned one cell can send 1000 messages per cell per second and we have 100 billion cells in our body, for me, it's gigantic." He did not want to make "a documentary about the brain," and so he focused on making an entertaining film with scientific and ethical aspects, which he cited as "quite rare today." He said, "That was my goal: an action film with a purpose. When I was younger, the purpose I had was smaller. Basically, this is about us, our legacy and what we learn."' [17] An animated version of Australopithecus being in the film, "modeled on the dawn of Man sequence from 2001: A Space Odyssey", is one of several of Lucy's homages. [10]

"I live in a country of food, and you can't have a third star in a restaurant (the top Michelin rating) without risk, invention or creativity", Besson said. "I'd rather take some risks, and maybe some people will say, 'What the fuck is this film?' But some others will embrace it. I totally understand that we can't take this kind of risk on every movie, but at the same time, you can't progress if there is not risk and novelty." He added, "I guess the film has the possibility to be a hit with the American audience. Of course, I would rather that it perform and the people are happy with it." [10]

Budget and filming

With an estimated budget of 48 million euros, Lucy was the second-largest French film production in 2013, [18] and the biggest ever for EuropaCorp, the company founded by Besson in 2000. [19] [20]

Principal photography started in September 2013 at the Cité du Cinéma, a then-new megastudio on the outskirts of Paris. [21] On 5 September, scenes were shot at the cliffs of Étretat in northern France. [22] Eleven days of filming began in Taipei, Taiwan, on 21 October; [23] [24] locations included Taipei 101, one of the world's tallest skyscrapers. [25] [26] Some footage was filmed with IMAX cameras. [27]

On 23 October, The Hollywood Reporter said Besson had become enraged by all the media attention the shoot was getting that day. [25] Meeting reporters in Taipei a day after he finished shooting the Taiwan part of the film, he said, "We don't want pictures with new dresses of Scarlett. Sometime [ sic ] I lost a bit of my concentration because I'm bothered by that," adding that paparazzi intrusions meant "shooting at night time was a nightmare". Besson said two unnamed agencies from Hong Kong were especially disruptive. [28]

Visual effects

Lucy has the most visual effects in a film directed by Besson, [20] with over 1,000 effects shots under senior visual effects supervisor Nicholas Brooks. [9] Most visual effects were done by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), [29] with a team headed by supervisor Richard Bluff. Bluff described Lucy as "really fun because it wasn't a thousand shots of robots or things we typically do," instead relying on short sequences "that required a lot of new ways to problem-solve and to visualize them." [30] ILM began work on the project in July 2013, based on concept art provided by Besson's Europacorp, such as Lucy disintegrating and sprouting black tendrils. [29] Among the material ILM studied as reference for the effects were chemical reactions, laser lighting displays seen at raves, and the work of artist Perry Hall, who had worked with Brooks in What Dreams May Come . [31] Rodeo FX handled the Paris chase scene, Taipei matte paintings, and the visual representation of cell phones' radio waves seen by Lucy's enhanced vision. [29] [32]

Music and soundtrack

Lucy: Soundtrack from the Motion Picture
Soundtrack album by
Éric Serra, Various Artists
Released22 July 2014
Genre Film soundtrack, film score
Label Back Lot Music
Éric Serra chronology
The Lady
(2011)
Lucy: Soundtrack from the Motion Picture
(2014)

The film's score was composed by Éric Serra, who has scored all of Besson's films except Angel-A and The Family . British musician Damon Albarn contributed the song "Sister Rust". [33] The soundtrack was released on 22 July 2014 by Back Lot Music. [34]

Marketing

Distributor Universal Pictures issued several print and digital posters for Lucy. The theatrical release poster had this tagline: "The average person uses 10% of their brain capacity. Imagine what she could do with 100%." [35] On 15 August 2014, Universal Pictures released two advance posters for the upcoming comedy film Dumb and Dumber To that spoofed the theatrical release poster for Lucy. [36]

On 2 April 2014 the first trailer for Lucy was released. [37] It was described as having "hit the Internet with the force of a punch to the head," [38] with reviewers wrote that it promised "a wild ride with Johansson rendering people unconscious with a flick of her wrist"; [39] "awesome" as "the girl who was once exploited becomes very, very dangerous"; [40] and "wonderfully insane as Johansson goes from a drug mule at the mercy of her captors to a superhuman with remarkable control over her body and a diminishing capacity for mercy." [41] James Luxford of The Guardian said the trailer fit a theme evident in Johansson's past three films: characters who "evolve, mutate or vanish altogether". [42] After the film premiered, critics said the trailers portrayed the film as more action-packed than it actually was. [43] A behind-the-scenes preview of the film was released on July 10. [44]

In his 2014 book, Great Myths of the Brain, Christian Jarrett dismisses the film's portrayal of the potential for "mastering all knowledge and hurling cars with her mind" as being fully speculative fiction. [45]

Reception

Box office

Lucy grossed $126.7 million in North America and $336.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $463.4 million, against a budget of $40 million. [5]

On July 25, Lucy opened at 3,172 theaters in the United States. [46] It opened with $17,088,110, placing it in the top spot for the box office opening weekend, ahead of the competing film Hercules , which debuted in the number two spot with $11,058,454. [47] Lucy, described as "bringing a needed boost to the ailing summer box office," [47] did financially better than expected, [47] as early box office estimates for the film placed it "on track for $14 million to $15 million on Friday, including $2.7 million from 2,386 late Thursday screenings." [48] It earned $43,899,340 at the domestic box office for the opening weekend, with Hercules remaining at second place with $29 million. [49] Globally, Lucy debuted at the number one box office spot in all markets it was released in outside of U.S. and Canada, as of August 8. [50] In Taipei, the film's performance has been credited to roughly half of the film having been shot there, and it having "boost[ed] Taiwan's popularity amid the country's efforts to bring itself to the world stage." [51] [52] It opened at twenty two Taipei theaters, grossing NT$14.3 million (US$478,000) from 57,900 admissions, and, after two days there, made NT$25.6 million (US$854,000) in the capital, later earning over NT$38 million (US$1.27 million) from seventy five locations nationwide, making it the fourth best opening day in Taiwan, after Transformers: Age of Extinction , Iron Man 3 and The Avengers , the best opening day for United International Pictures (UIP), and the best August opening day of all-time. [52] Lucy is also the second most successful debut for a French action film. [50]

The audience for Lucy was split evenly between men and women, with 65 percent being over age 25. [53] Nikki Rocco, president for domestic distribution at Universal Studios, said, "To have a female lead in an original property absolutely made a difference. Scarlett is a star, and her presence [in the film] made it a lot more appealing for women." [54] Michael Bodey of The Australian commented that women having comprised half the audience is "a seemingly new precedent for an action film" and that, because of its box office performance, Lucy is the film out of all of Besson's film work "likely to have the greatest cultural impact." [17]

Thewire.com's David Sims stated that Johansson's success with Lucy at the box office would be "no mean feat given that it's a European R-rated action movie opening against a PG-13 epic with a more proven action star" in Dwayne Johnson (The Rock). "She's obviously had supporting roles in Marvel blockbusters but [Johansson] has never opened a blockbuster as an above-the-title star," he stated, adding that The Island was her first real attempt at doing so, but was a flop, and that if "tracking holds, Lucy will solidify this new phase in Johansson's career as a marquee name." [55]

In U.S. and Canada, Lucy earned $61 million in ticket sales in 3,173 theaters, and attracted 7.6 million viewers in its opening week. [50] Rocco said that widespread interest from ticket buyers indicated that Lucy brought "a different side to an action film," and that Universal Studios "had maintained high hopes for the 'R-rated original concept female-driven action movie.'" [49] Leading in the weekend's ticket sales on online ticket service Fandango, Lucy outsold action thrillers Oblivion , Elysium and Edge of Tomorrow "at the same point in the sales cycle." [48] It additionally outsold The Bourne Legacy ($38.1 million) and Salt ($36 million), compared to their opening weekend spots, but failed to surpass the opening weekend grosses for Wanted ($50.9 million) and Taken 2 ($49.5 million). [53] Ray Subers of Box Office Mojo stated, "The fact that it even came close, though, is a fairly remarkable feat for this moderately-budgeted original action movie." [53]

Subers said that there are a few contributing factors to Lucy's success, commenting, "First, the movie had an intriguing premise (what if we could use more than 10% of our brains?) that was front-and-center in action-packed, visually-stunning advertisements." He said that this helped Johansson's lead role of Lucy appear to be "a natural extension of the butt-kicking brand she's built" as Black Widow in The Avengers and Captain America: The Winter Soldier , and that "recognizing that audiences were connecting with the material, Universal made the savvy decision to move Lucy up from mid-August," where it instead would have been competing with Guardians of the Galaxy , Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles , and The Expendables 3 , a contrast to "this less-competitive late July date." [53] Oliver Gettell of Los Angeles Times commented similarly, citing five reasons for the film's successful opening weekend: A catchy sci-fi hook (the ten percent of brain myth), Johansson as an action star, Besson as a crowd-pleaser (known for films that please audiences, especially ones that craft strong female characters), a summer of strong women (previous successful female-driven films in the year being Maleficent and The Fault in Our Stars ), and a slick marketing campaign (the trailers for the film emphasizing a high concept narrative, action and mayhem while de-emphasizing "philosophical and metaphysical pontificating"). [6]

Critical response

Early reviews for the film were positive and mixed, [7] [55] [56] [57] and later generally positive. [58] Lucy was categorized as entertaining and silly, but also polarizing, by critics. [6] [55] [59] [60] On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an approval rating of 66% based on 241 reviews, with an average rating of 6.00/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Enthusiastic and silly, Lucy powers through the movie's logic gaps with cheesy thrills plus Scarlett Johansson's charm – and mostly succeeds at it." [61] On review aggregator Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on 45 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [62] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on a A+ to F scale. [47] Based on 14 press reviews, French website AlloCiné gave the film an average rating of 2.6 out of 5. [63] The film received a score of 84% on French website Cinémur. [64]

In France, the film received 14 press reviews. Regarding the positive reception, Danielle Attali wrote in Le Journal du dimanche that "Luc Besson's thriller shows a successful talent to entertain and keep in suspense". [65] In Voici , the reviewer also appreciated the work of Besson, stating that he "returns to action films with this wacky cross between a superhero film and film about Asian gangsters, amped up by the always sexy Scarlett Johansson". [65] In Le Parisien , Magali Gruet stated, "Some have called this a feminist film, and though we will not go that far, it would be wrong to deny that a woman is portrayed as the source of solutions intended to save the world." [65] Libération wrote, "Beyond the success or embellishment which adorns each new scene with a spectacular swagger of violence and improbable turns, there is a strong feeling that Luc Besson now makes films from a position beyond merely marketing considerations." [65] Le Nouvel Observateur wrote, "It was unclear how such a contrived portrayal can delude audiences once the novelty becomes dissipated." [65]

Among U.S. reviews, Christopher Orr of The Atlantic reviewed it through the list of 26 points, in an article published in The Atlantic under title "The Dumbest Movie Ever Made About Brain Capacity". Orr begins with describing it as "mind-bendingly miscalculated sci-fi vehicle for Scarlett Johansson" whom he sees as "moderately charismatic", and film's 89 minutes length as "mercifully brief", although saying that "quantity of inanity" squeezed into this screen time "beggars that of awful movies of substantially greater length". He ultimately explains his choice of review format through points by calling the film "so idiotic that the only way to properly convey its flaws is to enumerate them". [66] Justin Chang of Variety called Lucy "a slickly engineered showcase for a kickass heroine whom we instinctively, unhesitatingly root for" and an enjoyable, "agreeably goofy, high-concept" speculative narrative devoid of self-importance because "it pays deft, knowing homage to any number of Hollywood sci-fi head-trip classics, embedding its ideas in a dense labyrinth of cinematic references that somehow end up feeling sly rather than shopworn." [67] Jordan Hoffman of The Guardian called the film "mindless and mixed up, but propulsive and fun" and added that "Scarlett Johansson shines in this pseudo-intellectual action flick that represents Luc Besson's finest work" since the film The Fifth Element ; he gave Lucy 3/5 stars, [68] while IGN's Jim Vejvoda rated the film a 7.2 and said "this movie is all about Johansson, who's in almost every scene. She ably plays the title character as she transforms from average person to omnipotent entity" and "ultimately, more of Lucy works than doesn't. It's a fun movie even if its 'science' more than strains suspension of disbelief. It's a credit to Besson's style and Johansson's performance that Lucy isn't a train wreck." [69] The San Francisco Chronicle's Mick LaSalle said, "You can scoff at Besson's philosophies and hypotheses, but to do that would miss what's in front of you. Lucy is an impeccably realized vision of Besson's view of things." [70]

By contrast, John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter stated that "plenty of films and novels have envisioned what would happen if we gained conscious control over our entire brain," but that "it's hard to recall one whose ideas were more laughable than this one." He stated that the audience may "roll with the film" as Lucy does things beyond human capability, but that the film does not justify "Lucy's increasingly godlike abilities, which soon include time travel and levitation. Every now and then, a nugget of real philosophy is dropped into the screenplay, but it's surrounded by so much blather that even a generous viewer has trouble using it to justify what Lucy experiences." [71] Writing for LA Weekly , Amy Nicholson stated that Besson "must think the audience is operating with even fewer synapses [than the capacity of ten percent]. Here, his style is slick but hand-holdingly literal" and "as the newly bionic Lucy seeks vengeance, Besson even tries to convince us she's a strong female character, which to the majority of male action directors simply means a sexy, silent badass. The real females in the audience may wonder why a genius would limp across a multi-continental gunfight in five-inch Louboutins." [72]

Among the main criticisms of the film were the ten percent of brain myth, Lucy becoming less empathetic and more robotic as her brain capacity increases, her invincibility, [8] [67] [71] [73] and the use of animal imagery to convey "obvious points". [55] Ralph Blackburn of Belfast Telegraph called the notion of only using ten percent of the brain an "often-quoted idea" that "has obvious Hollywood potential," but, according to leading neuroscientists, is "nothing more than an urban myth." He cited neuropsychology professor Barbara Sahakian, quoting that "it's impossible to work out how much of our brain we are using quantitatively. However, it is definitely much more than 10 per cent." [8] Chang stated that because Besson "seems more interested in engaging, playfully yet seriously, with the various biological, philosophical and metaphysical riddles that [the film] raises," the story is lacking as an action film and is not "much of a thriller it's virtually an anti-thriller, devoid of suspense or any real sense of danger due to the fact that its heroine is more or less invincible," and that "at times it's hard to shake the sense that a smarter, more unbridled picture might have found a way to slip the bonds of genre altogether." [67] Like Chang, DeFore felt that one of the flaws with the film is Lucy's invincibility because it "nullifies much of the drama to come." [71] Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune said that the first twenty minutes of the film are good, but that by half an hour of runtime, the audience will realize that Lucy has no limits, which makes the film dull after a while with a "limited payoff". [74] The Boston Globe's Ty Burr, on the other hand, stated of the criticisms: "who comes to a Besson movie seeking logic? Lucy stays true to its own invented physics." [75] Besson said he knew of the ten percent myth, and that the film uses it as a metaphor, [17] while Robbie Collin for The Daily Telegraph concluded the film is based on the Kantian model of transcendental idealism, where the human mind imposes order on the world to make sense of it, and without it all relations between objects in space and time would cease to exist. [76]

Lucy has been compared to various films; common examples include Akira , [77] [78] 2001: A Space Odyssey , The Matrix , The Tree of Life , Transcendence , and especially Limitless . [8] [67] [71] [73] Chang said, "Lucy's gradual rise to omniscience and omnipotence recalls Neo's own such journey in The Matrix, while her many black-suited Korean opponents suggest another army of Agent Smiths," and added that, when Lucy "uploads herself, Big Brother-style, to every computer and TV screen in the vicinity," the film suggests "a livelier, less ponderous remake" of Transcendence. [67] Hoffman said, "The end of the movie goes completely off the rails, but in a way that is charming in its stupidity. It's like 2001: A Space Odyssey for those with short attention spans, and those people need to have their minds blown, too, I suppose." [68] Matt Prigge of Metro New York , while calling the film "stupid, smart and awesome," stated that it "smartly goes in a wildly different direction than the amusingly amoral Limitless, in which Bradley Cooper's character abused a similar drug, but used it to gain success, money and power. He was selfish. Lucy is selfless." Prigge added, "If Lucy is Limitless, it's Limitless with more than a dash of The Tree of Life, and even a bit" of the film Under the Skin , which also stars Johansson. [73] Burr commented that "where a fully juiced cerebellum just made Cooper's character really, really capable, Lucy undergoes a metaphysical makeover that, by the film's midpoint, has started to rearrange time, space, and her body." [75] Comparing Lucy's powers to characters Professor X, The Doctor, Dr. Manhattan, Galactus, God from Bruce Almighty , Scarlet Witch, and Tetsuo from Akira, Hollywood.com's Jordan Smith stated that "Lucy may be the most powerful film character ever created," but indicated that Tetsuo's powers might match hers. [79]

Accolades

Awards and accolades for Lucy
YearAwardCategoryRecipientsResult
2014 Alliance of Women Film Journalists Kick Ass Award for Best Female Action StarScarlett JohanssonNominated
2014 Village Voice Film Poll Best ActressRunner-up
2015 Saturn Award Best Action/Adventure FilmLucyNominated
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards Best Actress in an Action MovieScarlett JohanssonNominated
Jupiter Award Best International ActressNominated
MTV Movie Awards Best Female PerformanceNominated
National Society of Film Critics Awards Best Actress3rd place
Visual Effects Society Awards Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal/Live Action Feature Motion PictureRichard Bluff, Stephen Bevins, Stephen DeLuca, Tiffany YungNominated

Graphic novel and future

Hollywood journalist Nikki Finke reported in a July 2014 post on her film industry blog that: "In August, a Lucy graphic novel will be released online with four chapters appearing every other day for one week." [80] The first chapter of the semi-animated graphic novel was published on the international version of the movie's official website and features the same story material as seen in trailers with picture elements that move as scrolling takes place. [81]

In an April 2014 WonderCon interview, Besson was asked about the possibility of a Lucy sequel and stated, "With Lucy, you'll see the end of the film. I don't know how we can make a sequel, but if the film is huge, then I will think about it." [82] In August, while promoting the film in Taipei, where scenes were shot, Besson commented further about the possibility of a sequel: "I don't see how we can do one. It's not made for that. If I find something good enough, maybe I will, but for now I don't even think about it." [83] [84] In June 2015, it was reported that a sequel was in development. [85] In October 2017, it was rumored that Besson had completed the script, [86] but on 5 October he announced on his Facebook page that he is not working on a sequel for Lucy. [87]

On October 31, 2022, a spin-off series was announced to be in development by EuropaCorp and Village Roadshow with Freeman in talks to reprise his role. [88]

See also

Notes

  1. Credited as Analeigh Tipton

Related Research Articles

<i>Léon: The Professional</i> 1994 film by Luc Besson

Léon: The Professional is a 1994 English-language French action-thriller film written and directed by Luc Besson. It stars Jean Reno and Gary Oldman, and features the film debut of Natalie Portman. The plot centers on Léon (Reno), a professional hitman who reluctantly takes in twelve-year-old Mathilda Lando (Portman) after her family are murdered by corrupt Drug Enforcement Administration agent Norman Stansfield (Oldman). Léon and Mathilda form an unusual relationship, as she becomes his protégée and learns the hitman's trade. The film was released in France by Gaumont and internationally through Gaumont Buena Vista International on 14 September 1994, and received mostly positive reviews from critics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luc Besson</span> French filmmaker

Luc Paul Maurice Besson is a French filmmaker. He directed or produced the films Subway (1985), The Big Blue (1988), and La Femme Nikita (1990). Associated with the Cinéma du look film movement, he has been nominated for a César Award for Best Director and Best Picture for his films Léon: The Professional (1994) and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999). He won Best Director and Best French Director for his sci-fi action film The Fifth Element (1997). He wrote and directed the 2014 sci-fi action film Lucy and the 2017 space opera film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

<i>The Fifth Element</i> 1997 film by Luc Besson

The Fifth Element is a 1997 English-language French science fiction action film conceived and directed by Luc Besson, as well as co-written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. It stars Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, Milla Jovovich, and Chris Tucker. Primarily set in the 23rd century, the film's central plot involves the survival of planet Earth, which becomes the responsibility of Korben Dallas (Willis), a taxicab driver and former special forces major, after a young woman (Jovovich) falls into his cab. To accomplish this, Dallas joins forces with her to recover four mystical stones essential for the defence of Earth against the impending attack of a malevolent cosmic entity.

<i>La Femme Nikita</i> (film) 1990 Franco-Italian action thriller film by Luc Besson

La Femme Nikita, also called Nikita in France, is a 1990 French-language action thriller film written and directed by Luc Besson. The film stars Anne Parillaud as the title character, a criminal who is convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering policemen during an armed pharmacy robbery. Her government handlers fake her death and recruit her as a professional assassin. After intense training, she starts a career as a killer, where she struggles to balance her work with her personal life. She shows talent at this and her career progresses until a mission in an embassy goes awry.

<i>The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc</i> 1999 film by Luc Besson

The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc is a 1999 English-language French epic historical drama film directed by Luc Besson and starring Milla Jovovich, John Malkovich, Faye Dunaway and Dustin Hoffman. The screenplay was written by Besson and Andrew Birkin, and the original score was composed by Éric Serra.

<i>Taken</i> (film) 2008 film by Pierre Morel

Taken is a 2008 English-language French action-thriller film directed by Pierre Morel from a story written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. It stars Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Katie Cassidy, Famke Janssen, Leland Orser and Holly Valance. In the film, Bryan Mills is an ex-CIA officer who sets to track down his teenage daughter Kim and her best friend Amanda after they are kidnapped by Albanian human traffickers while travelling in France during a vacation.

<i>From Paris with Love</i> (film) 2010 French film

From Paris with Love is a 2010 English-language French action thriller film directed by Pierre Morel and starring John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. The screenplay was co-written by Luc Besson. The film was released in the United States on February 5, 2010 by Lionsgate Films and both in United Kingdom and Japan by Warner Bros. Pictures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scarlett Johansson</span> American actress (born 1984)

Scarlett Ingrid Johansson is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has been featured multiple times on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2021. Johansson's films have grossed over $15.4 billion worldwide, making her the highest-grossing box office female star of all time.

<i>Hercules</i> (2014 film) 2014 film by Brett Ratner

Hercules is a 2014 American action-adventure fantasy film starring Dwayne Johnson as the titular character. It is directed by Brett Ratner from a screenplay written by Ryan J. Condal and Evan Spiliotopoulos. The film also stars Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell, Joseph Fiennes, Peter Mullan, and John Hurt. It is based on Steve Moore's graphic novel Hercules, specifically The Thracian Wars limited series. The film follows Hercules, a self-proclaimed demigod, and his band of mercenaries as they are hired to lead the Thracian army against a warlord.

<i>Colombiana</i> 2011 film by Olivier Megaton

Colombiana is a 2011 French English-language action thriller film co-written and produced by Luc Besson and directed by Olivier Megaton. The film stars Zoe Saldaña with supporting roles by Michael Vartan, Cliff Curtis, Lennie James, Callum Blue, and Jordi Mollà. The term "Colombiana" means a woman from Colombia. The film is about Cataleya, a nine-year-old girl in Colombia whose family is killed by a drug lord. Fifteen years later, a grown Cataleya seeks her revenge.

<i>Lockout</i> (film) 2012 French film

Lockout is a 2012 English-language French science fiction action film directed by James Mather and Stephen Saint Leger, and written by Mather, Saint Leger, and Luc Besson. It is both Mather and Saint Leger's feature directorial debuts. The film stars Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace, Vincent Regan, Joe Gilgun, Lennie James and Peter Stormare. The plot follows Snow (Pearce), a man framed for a crime he did not commit, who is offered his freedom in exchange for rescuing the President's daughter Emilie (Grace) from the orbital prison MS One, which has been taken over by its inmates, led by Alex (Regan) and his psychotic brother Hydell (Gilgun).

<i>Her</i> (film) 2013 film by Spike Jonze

Her is a 2013 American science-fiction romantic drama film written, directed, and co-produced by Spike Jonze. It marks Jonze's solo screenwriting debut. The film follows Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with Samantha, an artificially intelligent virtual assistant personified through a female voice. The film also stars Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, and Chris Pratt. The film was dedicated to James Gandolfini, Harris Savides, Maurice Sendak and Adam Yauch, who all died before the film's release.

<i>Black Widow</i> (2021 film) Marvel Studios film

Black Widow is a 2021 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the character of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 24th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Cate Shortland from a screenplay by Eric Pearson and stars Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow alongside Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, Olga Kurylenko, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, and Rachel Weisz. Set after the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016), the film sees Romanoff on the run and forced to confront her past as a Russian spy before she became an Avenger.

<i>Under the Skin</i> (2013 film) Film directed by Jonathan Glazer

Under the Skin is a 2013 science fiction film directed by Jonathan Glazer and written by Glazer and Walter Campbell, loosely based on the 2000 novel by Michel Faber. It stars Scarlett Johansson as an otherworldly woman who preys on men in Scotland. The film premiered at Telluride Film Festival on 29 August 2013. It was released in the United Kingdom on 14 March 2014, and in other territories later in the year.

<i>The Family</i> (2013 film) 2013 film by Luc Besson

The Family is a 2013 black comedy crime film co-written and directed by Luc Besson, starring Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tommy Lee Jones, Dianna Agron, and John D'Leo. It follows a Mafia family in the witness protection program who want to change their lives. It is based on the French novel Malavita by Tonino Benacquista.

<i>Ghost in the Shell</i> (2017 film) 2017 film directed by Rupert Sanders

Ghost in the Shell is a 2017 science fiction action film directed by Rupert Sanders and written by Jamie Moss, William Wheeler and Ehren Kruger, based on the Japanese manga of the same name by Masamune Shirow. It stars Scarlett Johansson, Takeshi Kitano, Michael Pitt, Pilou Asbæk, Chin Han and Juliette Binoche. Set in a near future when the line between humans and robots is blurring, the plot follows the Major (Johansson), a cyborg supersoldier who investigates her past.

<i>Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets</i> 2017 film by Luc Besson

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is a 2017 space opera film written and directed by Luc Besson, and produced by his wife, Virginie Besson-Silla. It is based on the French science fiction comics series Valérian and Laureline, written by Pierre Christin, illustrated by Jean-Claude Mézières, and published by Dargaud. It stars Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne as Valerian and Laureline, respectively, with Clive Owen, Rihanna, Ethan Hawke, Herbie Hancock, Kris Wu and Rutger Hauer in supporting roles. Besson independently financed and personally funded the film. With a production budget of around $223 million, it is both the most expensive European and the most expensive independent film ever made.

Taxi is a series of French comedy films, created by screenwriter and producer Luc Besson, consisting of five films primarily set in Marseille. In addition, an American-French remake of the 1998 original was made in 2004 and titled Taxi. In 2014 an American-French TV series called Taxi Brooklyn also aired.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natasha Romanoff (Marvel Cinematic Universe)</span> Character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Natalia Alianovna Romanova, more commonly known as Natasha Romanoff, is a fictional character primarily portrayed by Scarlett Johansson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise—based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name—sometimes known by her alias, Black Widow. Romanoff is depicted as an expert spy and hand-to-hand combatant, trained in the Red Room from childhood to be a KGB assassin. This brought her under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar, and Clint Barton is sent to kill her but instead spared her life and recruited her into the organization.

<i>Anna</i> (2019 feature film) 2019 film by Luc Besson

Anna is a 2019 action thriller film written, produced and directed by Luc Besson. The film stars Sasha Luss as the eponymous assassin, alongside Luke Evans, Cillian Murphy, Helen Mirren, and Alexander Petrov.

References

  1. Kroll, Justin (May 23, 2014). "Universal Moves Up Scarlett Johansson's 'Lucy' to July 25". Variety . Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  2. Lee, Hsin-Yin (April 4, 2014). "French director's new movie helps promote Taipei". Focus Taiwan. Central News Agency. Retrieved April 5, 2014.
  3. "LUCY (15)". Universal Studios. British Board of Film Classification. August 12, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  4. Dargis, Manohla (2014). "Lucy (2014)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Archived from the original on June 17, 2014. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Lucy". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Gettell, Oliver (July 28, 2014). "'Lucy': 5 reasons the Scarlett Johansson film ruled the box office". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  7. 1 2 Lombardi, Ken (July 25, 2014). ""Lucy," "Hercules" both get strength from critics". CBS News. Retrieved September 8, 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Blackburn, Ralph (July 20, 2014). "Lucy, Limitless, Transcendence - Why the 'underused brain' is a film-makers' myth". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Lucy Production Notes" (PDF). Universal Pictures . Retrieved August 11, 2014.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Foundas, Scott (August 5, 2014). "Luc Besson Puts His EuropaCorp to the Test With 'Lucy'". Variety. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  11. Carson, Tom (July 25, 2014). "Lucy Gives Scarlett Johansson a Role She Can Kill: Genetic Freak". GQ. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  12. Corliss, Richard (July 25, 2014). "I Love Lucy — and Luc, and Scarlett". Time. Retrieved September 8, 2014.
  13. Serba, John (July 25, 2014). "'Lucy' movie review: Scarlett Johannson strong but sci-fi is weak in silly thriller". mlive.com . Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  14. Armitage, Hugh (December 7, 2011). "Angelina Jolie in talks for Luc Besson dramatic thriller". Digital Spy . Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  15. Lyons, Margaret (June 12, 2011). "Angelina Jolie in Talks for Luc Besson's Next Movie". New York/vulture.com. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  16. Jagernauth, Kevin (July 28, 2014). "Luc Besson's Statement Of Intent For 'Lucy' Compares The Film To '2001,' 'Inception' & 'Leon The Professional'". Indiewire . Archived from the original on August 1, 2014. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
  17. 1 2 3 Bodey, Michael (August 2, 2014). "Why love Luc Besson's Lucy, with Scarlett Johansson?". The Australian . Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  18. "CNC - publications - la production cinématographique en 2013". www.cnc.fr.
  19. ""Lucy" : Luc Besson casse sa tirelire pour Scarlett". Archived from the original on August 11, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  20. 1 2 Connelly, Brendon (July 2, 2013). "Luc Besson's Sci-Fi Superheroine Movie Lucy Will Spend EuropaCorp's Biggest Budget To Date". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  21. Keslassy, Elsa (July 16, 2013). "Morgan Freeman Set to Topline in 'Lucy'". Variety. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  22. "Luc Besson tourne discrètement sa superproduction à Étretat" [Luc Besson's blockbuster is filmed discreetly in Étretat]. 76actu (in French). September 19, 2013. Archived from the original on July 10, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  23. "Scarlett Johansson spotted shooting film in Taipei". Focus Taiwan. Central News Agency. October 21, 2013. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  24. "Scarlett Johansson filming for 'Lucy'". Taipei Times. October 22, 2013. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  25. 1 2 Brzeski, Patrick (October 23, 2013). "Scarlett Johansson Begins Taiwan Shoot for Luc Besson's 'Lucy,' Causes Media Circus". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  26. "Taipei 101 to be featured in new Luc Besson movie". Focus Taiwan. Central News Agency. October 19, 2013. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  27. "Universal Pictures and Europacorp's "Lucy" Races into International IMAX® Theaters Starting August 8". PRN Newswire. IMAX Corporation. July 8, 2014. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  28. "Luc Besson Slams 'Nightmare' Paparazzi That Plagued Scarlett Johansson". MovieFone. November 3, 2013. Archived from the original on July 2, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  29. 1 2 3 Robertson, Barbara (August 6, 2014). "How VFX Supe Richard Bluff Explored New Approaches for Lucy". studiodaily.com. Access Intelligence, LLC. Archived from the original on August 9, 2014. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  30. Desowitz, Bill (August 1, 2014). "ILM Gets Trippy with Scarlett Johansson's VFX in Luc Besson's 'Lucy'". IndieWire. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  31. Giardina, Carolyn (July 30, 2014). "'Lucy:' How VFX House ILM 'Surpriseud' Luc Besson With the Visuals". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  32. Wolfe, Jennifer (July 28, 2014). "Rodeo FX Helps Create Spectacular Car Chase for 'Lucy'". AWN. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  33. "Damon Albarn shares 'Sister Rust' track, blames heat on lack of a Blur album". July 30, 2014.
  34. "Soundtrack For "Lucy," Starring Scarlett Johansson Released Today". Empty Lighthouse Magazine. July 22, 2014. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
  35. "Internet Movie Poster Awards - Lucy Poster". impawards.com. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
  36. "'Dumb & Dumber To' Posters Give Harry & Lloyd the 'Lucy' Treatment". firstshowing.net. August 15, 2014. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
  37. "Scarlett Johansson Goes Superhuman in 'Lucy' Trailer (VIDEO)". Variety. April 2, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  38. Sacks, Ethan (April 2, 2014). "'Lucy' trailer released: Scarlett Johansson stars as super-powered drug mule". Daily News . Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  39. Palladino, Valentina (April 2, 2014). "Scarlett Johansson is a telekinetic superhuman in the trailer for 'Lucy'". The Verge . Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  40. Towers, Andrea (April 2, 2014). "Scarlett Johansson becomes superpowered in new 'Lucy' trailer". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  41. Davis, Lauren (April 2, 2014). "Scarlett Johansson Is A Superpowered Genius In The First Lucy Trailer". io9 . Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  42. Luxford, James (April 4, 2014). "Lucy trailer: another high for Scarlett Johansson?". The Guardian . Retrieved March 13, 2015.
  43. Rosenfield, Kat (2014). "'Lucy': The Reviews Are In". MTV.com . Archived from the original on July 30, 2014. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  44. Cheng, Sabine; Kao, Evelyn (July 10, 2014). "Luc Besson explains why he chose Taipei to film 'Lucy'". Focus Taiwan. Central News Agency. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  45. Christian Jarrett, Great Myths of the Brain, Wiley-Blackstone Press, 2014, pp51-55.
  46. "Theater Counts for Week 30 of 2014". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  47. 1 2 3 4 McClintock, Pamela (July 26, 2014). "Box Office: 'Lucy' Wows With $17.1M Friday; 'Hercules' Distant No. 2". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  48. 1 2 McNary, Dave (July 25, 2014). "'Lucy' Beating Up 'Hercules' at Friday Box Office". Variety . Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  49. 1 2 Ronald Grover; Chris Michaud (July 27, 2014). "'Lucy,' 'Hercules' beat expectations at weekend box offices". Reuters . Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  50. 1 2 3 "Lucy: Week 1 of a global success story". Unifrance . August 8, 2014. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  51. "Lucy' draws crowds on opening day". Taipei Times . August 21, 2014. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  52. 1 2 Ma, Kevin (August 22, 2014). "Lucy sizzles at Taiwan box office". filmbiz.asia. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  53. 1 2 3 4 Subers, Ray (July 27, 2014). "Weekend Report: 'Lucy' Wins Brain vs. Brawn Battle". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved July 29, 2014.
  54. Cunningham, Todd (July 27, 2014). "Scarlett Johansson's 'Lucy' Hammers 'Hercules' and The Rock at Box Office". The Wrap . Retrieved July 29, 2014.
  55. 1 2 3 4 Sims, David (July 25, 2014). "Is 'Lucy' Being Criticized as Dumb Because It's About Being Smart?". The Wire . Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  56. Macatee, Rebecca (July 25, 2014). "Lucy Review Roundup: Do Critics Like Superhuman Scarlett Johansson?". E! News . Retrieved September 8, 2014.
  57. Stiles, Nancy (July 27, 2014). ""Lucy" Killed "Hercules" at the Box Office". Complex.com . Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  58. "Today's Big Releases: Hercules, Lucy, 22 Jump Street". NDTV . August 1, 2014. Retrieved September 8, 2014.
  59. Perez, Rodrigo (July 27, 2014). "Box-Office: Scarlett Johansson's 'Lucy' Beauty Outperforms Dwayne Johnson's 'Hercules' Brawn". Indiewire . Archived from the original on July 30, 2014. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  60. Beifuss, John (July 25, 2014). "Movie Review: ScarJo is a SuperBeing in action thriller 'Lucy'". Memphis Commercial Appeal . Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  61. "Lucy". Rotten Tomatoes . July 25, 2014. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  62. "Lucy". Metacritic . Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  63. "Lucy". AlloCiné . 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  64. "Lucy". Cinémur. 2014. Archived from the original on August 12, 2014. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
  65. 1 2 3 4 5 "Lucy". AlloCiné . 2014. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
  66. Orr, Christopher (July 25, 2014). "Lucy: The Dumbest Movie Ever Made About Brain Capacity" (Updated March 2015). The Atlantic. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  67. 1 2 3 4 5 Chang, Justin (July 23, 2014). "Film Review: 'Lucy'". Variety . Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  68. 1 2 Hoffman, Jordan (July 23, 2014). "Lucy: mindless and mixed up, but propulsive and fun – first look review". The Guardian . Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  69. Vejvoda, Jim (July 23, 2014). "Lucy Review". IGN . Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  70. LaSalle, Mick (July 24, 2014). "'Lucy' review: Straight-up action with serious brains". San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  71. 1 2 3 4 DeFore, John (July 23, 2014). "'Lucy': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  72. Nicholson, Amy (July 24, 2014). "Lucy". LA Weekly . Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  73. 1 2 3 Prigge, Matt (July 23, 2014). "Review: 'Lucy,' with Scarlett Johansson, is stupid, smart and awesome". Metro New York . Archived from the original on July 24, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  74. Phillips, Michael (July 24, 2014). "Johannson's limitless Lucy starts well but..." Chicago Tribune . Archived from the original on July 24, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  75. 1 2 Burr, Ty (July 24, 2014). "In 'Lucy,' a heroine's brain fires on all cylinders". The Boston Globe . Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  76. Collin, Robbie (August 12, 2014). "Lucy, review: 'everything Scarlett Johansson does is worth watching'" . The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  77. Seitz, Matt Zoller (July 25, 2014). "Lucy". RogerEbert.com . Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  78. Toro, Gabe (July 23, 2014). "Review: Luc Besson's 'Lucy' Starring Scarlett Johansson And Morgan Freeman". Indiewire . Archived from the original on July 25, 2014. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  79. Jordan, Smith (July 24, 2014). "Is 'Lucy' the Most Powerful Film Character Ever?". Hollywood.com . Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  80. Finke, Nikke (July 26, 2014). "Weekend Box Office: #1 'Lucy' $44.1M". NikkeFinke.com. Archived from the original on July 27, 2014.
  81. "Lucy" . Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  82. Radish, Christina (April 24, 2014). "Director Luc Besson Talks LUCY, a Possible Sequel". Collider.com. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  83. Coonan, Clifford (August 20, 2014). "Luc Besson Says 'Lucy' Sequel Unlikely". hollywoodreporter.com. The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  84. "'Lucy' sequel unlikely: director Luc Besson - Entertainment & Sports - FOCUS TAIWAN - CNA ENGLISH NEWS". August 19, 2014.
  85. "Lucy 2 Confirmed To Be In Development". Comicbook.com.
  86. "Luc Besson's 'Lucy 2' is Still Happening, And It's Thanks to 'Valerian'". /Film. October 2, 2017.
  87. "Luc Besson". www.facebook.com.
  88. Keslassy, Elsa (October 31, 2022). "Morgan Freeman in Advanced Talks to Star in 'Lucy' Spinoff Series With EuropaCorp, Village Roadshow Producing (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved October 31, 2022.