Brain power outsmarts Asian mobsters in sci-fi thriller Lucy. By Patricia Reaney
Gun-toting thugs and a vicious Asian mob boss are no match for the brawn and brain of French director Luc Besson’s super-powered heroine in his sci-fi, action thriller Lucy.
Besson is known for creating strong female characters in La Femme Nikita and The Fifth Element. But he goes a step further in Lucy, which opened in theaters in the United States last week, with an American student in Taipei who becomes invincible after the full power of her brain is unleashed.
Scarlett Johansson (The Avengers) is Lucy, a woman tricked by a boyfriend into delivering a suitcase and becomes one of several unwilling drug mules dispatched around the globe by Asian mobsters. After a brutal beating, the powerful synthetic compound implanted in her stomach seeps into her body and gradually lets her access more and more of her brain power.
“I think it is such an interesting imagination Luc has going on there,” said Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby), who as Paris-based neurologist Professor Norman helps Lucy cope with the startling changes in her mind and body.
Norman has been studying the brain for most of his life, researching what would happen if humans could use more than just 10 or 20% of it. “We always think and hear terms like, ‘We only use 10% of our brains’ but did anyone ever imagine what it would be like if you could use more? So here comes Luc imaging what could happen if you could use more,” Freeman added.
Writer/director Besson, who won France’s Cesar award in 1998 for The Fifth Element, had been toying with the idea of making a film about a person with super-human intelligence for a decade. But he felt he needed to find the right balance between reality and science fiction.
With stunning visual effects Besson shows how Lucy’s senses are heightened and how she develops super-human powers and the ability to control matter. As her intelligence increases, her ability to feel emotions, empathy and pain diminish, making her a proficient assassin.
While the impact of the drug grows, Lucy travels to Paris and enlists the help of French police Capt Pierre Del Rio, played by Egyptian actor Amr Waked (Syriana), to intercept the other drug mules.
With the Asian mobsters led by Mr Jang, played by Korean actor Choi Min Sik, in hot pursuit Lucy leaves a trail of destruction as she takes Del Rio on a white-knuckle car chase through the streets of central Paris and a crowded flea market.
While Lucy tries to channel her intelligence with the help of Norman, French police take on the Asian mob in a gun battle at the Sorbonne.
“With Luc Besson you have a knock-down, drag-out action film but then you have one that also makes you feel and think,” said Freeman. “It gives a little spark to your imagination to say ‘What if? What would I do? How would it be?’” — Reuters
Sandra Bullock too
scared to stay in LA
move out of her house in Los Angeles after the armed stalker incident in June. She is reportedly planning to settle down in Austin, Texas.
The 49-year-old was left shaken after learning that intruder Joshua Corbett managed to breach security at her Beverly Hills mansion and that he owns a machine gun among other deadly weapons, reports dailymail.co.uk.
She used to live in the southern state with adopted four-year-old son Louis and also owns a home in New Orleans.
“Finding out Corbett had a machine gun filled Sandra with dread. She wants out now! Sandra couldn’t believe the guy was able to get into her house. She has 12-foot-high fences topped by barbed wire and state-of-the-art surveillance,” a source said.
On June 8, Sandra went to bed at around 1am after attending the Spike TV awards. But hours later she awoke to loud noises, which she thought was coming from her third floor workout room window. “The banging appeared to get louder and sounded like it was coming from her living room this time. She then feared for her safety, closed and locked her door to her bedroom and called 911,” said a warrant.
Corbett was charged with felony counts of residential burglary, stalking and possession of a machine gun. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and the judge set his bond at $185,000. If convicted, he faces morActress Sandra Bullock may move out of her house in Los Angeles after the armed stalker incident in June. She is reportedly planning to settle down in Austin, Texas.
The 49-year-old was left shaken after learning that intruder Joshua Corbett managed to breach security at her Beverly Hills mansion and that he owns a machine gun among other deadly weapons, reports dailymail.co.uk.
She used to live in the southern state with adopted four-year-old son Louis and also owns a home in New Orleans.
“Finding out Corbett had a machine gun filled Sandra with dread. She wants out now! Sandra couldn’t believe the guy was able to get into her house. She has 12-foot-high fences topped by barbed wire and state-of-the-art surveillance,” a source said.
On June 8, Sandra went to bed at around 1am after attending the Spike TV awards. But hours later she awoke to loud noises, which she thought was coming from her third floor workout room window. “The banging appeared to get louder and sounded like it was coming from her living room this time. She then feared for her safety, closed and locked her door to her bedroom and called 911,” said a warrant.
Corbett was charged with felony counts of residential burglary, stalking and possession of a machine gun. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and the judge set his bond at $185,000. If convicted, he faces more than 12 years in jail. — IANS
Eddie Murphy’s namesake
drops defamation lawsuit
Actor Eddie Murphy gets a clean chit after a comedian, who shares his last name, dropped a defamation lawsuit against the star. Brando Murphy had filed a $50mn lawsuit against The Nutty Professor actor, accusing him of jeopardising his stand-up career by criticising his act. He also alleged members of the star’s entourage had threatened him, reports contactmusic.com. The case has now been dropped, and Brando cleared that it was never his intention to offend the actor. — IANS