# Lucy: the movie with Scarlett Johansson - wow, what a dumb movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 27, 2014, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucy-the-movie-with-scarlett-johansson-wow-what-a-dumb-movie/694186 "2014-07-27T21:35:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucy-the-movie-with-scarlett-johansson-wow-what-a-dumb-movie/694186/81 "2014-07-30T06:02:27Z")
> [@Imago](#): > > Under the Skin was actually a failed remake of a decent scifi book with the same title. I’m not even sure what’s clear and what isn’t if you haven’t read the book; where you ever made aware of why the men were being submerged in liquid? No, they just march down into the water apparently entranced by Scar Jo’s backside. No whys or wherefores. One is seen floating about under the water and another under there with him just sort of disappears from inside his skin. That is all the explanation received. > [@](#): > > He’s her boss. Collecting humans is her livelihood. I don’t think they are ever shown together, or have any communication, in the film. He’s just some bloke on a bike with no connection to anything happening. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucy-the-movie-with-scarlett-johansson-wow-what-a-dumb-movie/694186/82 "2014-07-30T06:09:19Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > I only saw a couple trailers and brief synopsis. I decided against this movie simply because the character pretty blatantly gets ludicrously overwhelming superpowers. Like, Silver-Age Superman superpowers. Which is, honestly, rather boring. I like to see my superheroes get the crap kicked out of them along the way. Getting a shoeing is actually how she gets her powers. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucy-the-movie-with-scarlett-johansson-wow-what-a-dumb-movie/694186/83 "2014-07-30T14:53:06Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > For me, it was that exposition in the trailer. > > “At twenty-four percent, she can control the cells of her body; at forty percent, she can control matter; at sixty-two percent, she can control other people.” > > _“What happens when she reaches one hundred percent?”_ > > She already got control of her cells, people, and, y’know, matter; who cares what else she gets? You think 007 gets a gimmicked wristwatch from Q that can do all of that, at which point (a) there’s still a mission for him to struggle through – such that (b) he’d ask for yet another item, the one that would actually concern his foes? I kept wondering – what can you do if you have complete control of a skin cell? I mean, I got plenty of skin cells, leukocytes, dendrites, etc., and although I don’t consciously control them, I’m not sure there’s a lot I could or SHOULD do with them if I could consciously control them. Frankly, the movie does sound like a hoot, perhaps BECAUSE of its silly, comic-book premise … but not enough of a hoot that I am going to pay for theater tickets. I’ll catch it when it gets to Netflix or something. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucy-the-movie-with-scarlett-johansson-wow-what-a-dumb-movie/694186/84 "2014-07-30T15:25:10Z")
The way the opening part cuts between a wildlife documentary, Morgan Freeman speechifying and Lucy’s extreme stupidity was annoying. It still got stupider thereafter, though. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucy-the-movie-with-scarlett-johansson-wow-what-a-dumb-movie/694186/85 "2014-07-30T16:05:22Z")
> [@Imago](#): > > Under the Skin was actually a failed remake of a decent scifi book with the same title. I’m not even sure what’s clear and what isn’t if you haven’t read the book; where you ever made aware of why the men were being submerged in liquid? No, a lot of the stuff that’s in the book is left ambiguous in the film—I thought it was a strong point, because it breaks the ‘aliens are just people with bumpy foreheads’ mold by showing us aliens looking exactly like us, but being different in just about every other way, to the point of being incomprehensible. I’m not sure in what way you think it’s failed, by the way—it’s currently at 86% at Rotten Tomatoes. > [@](#): > > He’s her boss. Collecting humans is her livelihood. That’s the way things are according to the book, but in the film, it’s just one interpretation (and one I found disappointingly mundane upon reading the synopsis of the book). > [@blindboyard](#): > > I don’t think they are ever shown together, or have any communication, in the film. He’s just some bloke on a bike with no connection to anything happening. They’re shown together a couple of times—right at the beginning in the white void, for example. Although motorcycle man never speaks, they clearly do have some interaction, for instance in that scene where he seems to examine her from all four sides. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucy-the-movie-with-scarlett-johansson-wow-what-a-dumb-movie/694186/86 "2014-07-30T16:26:43Z")
I saw this last night, having read lots of negatives and spoilery reviews… But I actually think it’s not being given enough credit. For example, the mobsters: Never explain any of their motivations. Their behavior is best explained by assuming that every single thing they tell Lucy is a lie. In particular, interpret their actions in light of this scenario: There’s a war between crime families. Richard works for a defeated family and is required to make a delivery. He’s pretty sure they’re going to whack him, so he decides to pawn the delivery off on his girlfriend. He gets killed anyway. The boss is killing other enemies as Lucy comes in. The boss doesn’t even know what’s in the case - they expect a bomb because it came from the rival family, but it’s just a drug. They test it out on a rival junkie who they were going to kill anyway as part of their purge. Now they need to get the drugs out - not just for sale, but because they’re in the middle of a crime war. But they never get Lucy out. There’s no “coincidence” about her winding up in the same town as Prof Norman - she chooses to go there. I think the gang forgot what to do with her and locked her up as just one more enemy gang member to beat up. (This explanation also helps explain their stash of guns as she breaks out). And Prof Norman: Look, basically what we have here is a remake/reboot of the Japanese animation film [Akira](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094625/), right? So, everything Prof Norman says that sounds stupid… well, partly it’s in-genre pseudo-science, but partly it’s just a _bad translation_ from the original Japanese. He’s not really talking about “brain capacity” - what he really means is the same source of power as in Akira. It’s a difference percentage of connectivity to the central well-spring of power. At 100%, you’re God and you can create a new universe if you want. Then we just need to change the final phone message to “I am… Tetsuo” and the Akira analogy would be perfect. So… anyway… as an homage to Akira, I can appreciate it in that light. However, it’s a movie where the viewer is going to have to put in all the effort to force it to make sense. I’m not sure it’s quite as bad as many of the critics are making it out to be, though. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucy-the-movie-with-scarlett-johansson-wow-what-a-dumb-movie/694186/87 "2014-07-30T16:38:20Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The review at The Atlantic is titled [Lucy: The Dumbest Movie Ever Made About Brain Capacity](http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/07/life-is-futile-so-heres-what-to-do-with-it-according-to-lucy-a-spoilereview/375006/). It’s full of spoilers because it lists 26 dumb things the movie does. > > What’s astounding about that review is that those are mere minor flaws. I could probably come up with another 26 things that are even more gigantically dumb than those. Here’s the biggest: > > The fake drug is synthetic. Anybody can make more of it at any time. Lucy didn’t take it all; it’s already out there in the world. The scientists - who are useless appendages to the plot, since all they do is dissolve the drug in liquid, something anybody in the hospital could have done - might do so themselves. The whole movie turns out to be a countdown about defusing _a bomb that has already gone off_. Thank you, that was hilarious. I find it striking that I’ve read several reviews now, and none of them yet have an overlapping set of complaints. There’s just so much stupidity to choose from! [This review](http://www.themarysue.com/review-lucy-scarlett-johansson-luc-besson/) is more serious and not nearly as entertaining - I get the impression she’s genuinely disappointed at how dumb/offensive it was - but she points out yet another [truly laughable error](http://bitterandcurt.tumblr.com/post/82160920765): The cell where Lucy is held has Chinese writing on the walls. I guess this is supposed to add to the ambiance of “foreign = incomprehensible = threatening”. Apparently, it didn’t occur to anyone involved in the production of the film that it would matter what the writing said because some of their audience members just might be able to, y’know, _read_ it. A blogger writes: “I just asked a family member to translate this. They came back with ‘Keep Clean. Apple, scallop & ginger, orange, tomato, grape’.” And I was able to verify this using one of the bajillion free translators available on the internets. So it’s not like it would have been at all difficult for them to have it say whatever the hell they wanted it to say. They just couldn’t be buggered. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucy-the-movie-with-scarlett-johansson-wow-what-a-dumb-movie/694186/88 "2014-07-30T18:01:31Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > I kept wondering – what can you do if you have complete control of a skin cell? I mean, I got plenty of skin cells, leukocytes, dendrites, etc., and although I don’t consciously control them, I’m not sure there’s a lot I could or SHOULD do with them if I could consciously control them. In the commercial, she’s shown insta-changing her hair in concert with that line, implying she’s now the bestest quick-change artist/master of disguise _evah_. I’d of course figure she can also will a tumor away or mend a broken bone by just thinking at it and so on, but, yeah: appearance is, uh, apparently on the table. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucy-the-movie-with-scarlett-johansson-wow-what-a-dumb-movie/694186/89 "2014-07-30T19:00:45Z")
I don’t know if this movie is good or bad, but everyone shitting on it because of the 10% brain thing is bewildering. Do you have telekinesis? No? Then it must be true, huh? Man, what would happen if people applied even a modicum of real world logic to sci-fi/fantasy movies like they do this one. The entire genre would collapse under the too cool for school mocking. I hardly saw anyone shitting on, say, Looper because there was a mutation that gave some people telekinetic powers. OMG! GENETICS DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY YOU GUYS! FAIL MOVIE IS FAIL! 0/10! And that’s probably more deserved since Looper could’ve worked just fine without it and they already expected us to swallow time travel whereas here it’s the central conceit of the whole movie. EDIT: Also, isn’t the “unlocked potential” sometimes true? e.g. acquired savant system, where people get hit on the head and it unlocks math/art abilities that person never knew they had. Not telekinetics, but meh. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucy-the-movie-with-scarlett-johansson-wow-what-a-dumb-movie/694186/90 "2014-07-30T19:32:07Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > I don’t know if this movie is good or bad, but everyone shitting on it because of the 10% brain thing is bewildering. Do you have telekinesis? No? Then it must be true, huh? Man, what would happen if people applied even a modicum of real world logic to sci-fi/fantasy movies like they do this one. The entire genre would collapse under the too cool for school mocking. > > I hardly saw anyone shitting on, say, Looper because there was a mutation that gave some people telekinetic powers. OMG! GENETICS DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY YOU GUYS! FAIL MOVIE IS FAIL! 0/10! And that’s probably more deserved since Looper could’ve worked just fine without it and they already expected us to swallow time travel whereas here it’s the central conceit of the whole movie. > > EDIT: Also, isn’t the “unlocked potential” sometimes true? e.g. acquired savant system, where people get hit on the head and it unlocks math/art abilities that person never knew they had. Not telekinetics, but meh. “Leave Britney ALONE!!!” ::clears throat:: Okay, then. How about: “it was a cheap trope used to explain whatever-the-heck Besson wanted, whereas a movie like Looper creates a more interesting, consistent world.” how’s that? To be clear: I was championing Buckaroo Banzai upthread. Featuring the evil Dr. Emilio Lizardo, Lectroids, and a henchman named John Big Bootie (Boo-TAY!!!) - inconceivability is not the limiting factor. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucy-the-movie-with-scarlett-johansson-wow-what-a-dumb-movie/694186/91 "2014-07-30T19:38:33Z")
I’m almost starting to want to see this movie now, and I didn’t before this thread. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucy-the-movie-with-scarlett-johansson-wow-what-a-dumb-movie/694186/92 "2014-07-30T19:51:01Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I’m almost starting to want to see this movie now, and I didn’t before this thread. Then my work here is…wait, what? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucy-the-movie-with-scarlett-johansson-wow-what-a-dumb-movie/694186/93 "2014-07-30T20:21:24Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > You were replying to a call for sf movies that “make no sense.” > > We responded with appropriate indignation. 😛 I was thinking of it as more of a mental palate cleanser, if you will. I would put Young Einstein in with BB as a way of not getting too engrossed in the details. Can we at least agree the other three were execrable? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucy-the-movie-with-scarlett-johansson-wow-what-a-dumb-movie/694186/94 "2014-07-30T20:24:16Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > EDIT: Also, isn’t the “unlocked potential” sometimes true? e.g. acquired savant system, where people get hit on the head and it unlocks math/art abilities that person never knew they had. Not telekinetics, but meh. That’s the point. You can do “unlocked potential” which could be anything, without ever mentioning 10% of the brain, which is ludicrous. It’s like basing a moving on Creationism being true. You can hand wave that away but why alienate the vast majority of your audience before they even sit down? ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucy-the-movie-with-scarlett-johansson-wow-what-a-dumb-movie/694186/95 "2014-07-30T20:50:05Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > “Leave Britney ALONE!!!” I guess. Haven’t even seen the movie, but it seems like it could be fun. I think people think the 10% brain thing being false is some secret that only hip science savvy people know. But pretty much everyone knows it’s not true, which is why everyone is breaking their arms patting themselves on the back for knowing about a common woo myth. But they wouldn’t do it for, say, a ghost story (and a lot of people actually believes in ghosts). ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucy-the-movie-with-scarlett-johansson-wow-what-a-dumb-movie/694186/96 "2014-07-30T21:53:42Z")
So I guess this is not a sequel to _Wendy and Lucy_? ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucy-the-movie-with-scarlett-johansson-wow-what-a-dumb-movie/694186/97 "2014-07-30T22:08:31Z")
I’m going to pretend she is Lucy Pevensie from _The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe_ who has been driven insane by a lifetime of ruling over talking animals. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucy-the-movie-with-scarlett-johansson-wow-what-a-dumb-movie/694186/98 "2014-07-31T04:50:04Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > I saw this last night, having read lots of negatives and spoilery reviews… > > But I actually think it’s not being given enough credit. > > For example, the mobsters: > Never explain any of their motivations. Their behavior is best explained by assuming that every single thing they tell Lucy is a lie. > … Even if the filmmakers had that in mind that just makes their failure as filmmakers even worse, because they were not merely over their heads but actively sabotaged it by trying too hard to _look_ smart to _be_ smart. As I said in a recent thread, good literature is not about hidden meanings, because good literature is about communicating the important parts to the audience. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucy-the-movie-with-scarlett-johansson-wow-what-a-dumb-movie/694186/99 "2014-07-31T18:55:34Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > I think people think the 10% brain thing being false is some secret that only hip science savvy people know. But pretty much everyone knows it’s not true, which is why everyone is breaking their arms patting themselves on the back for knowing about a common woo myth. But they wouldn’t do it for, say, a ghost story (and a lot of people actually believes in ghosts). I view it more like a premise where someone is sailing over the edge of the flat earth. It’s just too far into stupid territory to recover. ---
**Author:** ![jrepka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@jrepka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrepka)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucy-the-movie-with-scarlett-johansson-wow-what-a-dumb-movie/694186/100 "2014-07-31T20:40:13Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > I don’t know if this movie is good or bad, but everyone shitting on it because of the 10% brain thing is bewildering. Do you have telekinesis? No? Then it must be true, huh? Man, what would happen if people applied even a modicum of real world logic to sci-fi/fantasy movies like they do this one. The entire genre would collapse under the too cool for school mocking. > > I hardly saw anyone shitting on, say, Looper because there was a mutation that gave some people telekinetic powers. OMG! GENETICS DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY YOU GUYS! FAIL MOVIE IS FAIL! 0/10! And that’s probably more deserved since Looper could’ve worked just fine without it and they already expected us to swallow time travel whereas here it’s the central conceit of the whole movie. > > EDIT: Also, isn’t the “unlocked potential” sometimes true? e.g. acquired savant system, where people get hit on the head and it unlocks math/art abilities that person never knew they had. Not telekinetics, but meh. These are not bad points. It makes me wonder how many people in this thread saw Pacific Rim last year? I say with confidence that I have never experienced a worse well-reviewed movie – 72% on Rotten Tomatoes, but contained not an iota of intelligent dialogue or a comprehensible premise or motivation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucy-the-movie-with-scarlett-johansson-wow-what-a-dumb-movie/694186.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucy-the-movie-with-scarlett-johansson-wow-what-a-dumb-movie/694186.md?page=6)