Lucy

The Gist: Accidentally ensnared by an international drug trafficker to be a mule, Lucy ends up overdosing on a new and very powerful drug that results in her gaining superhuman abilities.

I was looking forward to watching Lucy because I generally like Luc Besson's work and the idea of a strong female lead in a field generally dominated by males sounded like progress. I also really like Scarlett Johansson.

Unfortunately, the end result is largely underwhelming and even disappointing. The storytelling pace is too fast and the runtime too short to effectively establish 3D characters, so what you get are really just placards.

Furthermore, the very premise that she would survive such an overdose and that it would then do to her what it does is a stretch. And the breakneck pace at which she becomes a near-godlike entity is just too artificial.

The Bottom Line: A good performance, a lot of cool action, and pretty nifty visual effects don't save Lucy from being a botched cinematic dud.

Grade: 4