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'.
Published : 25 Jul 2014, 01:41 AM
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 opens in theatres in the United States on Friday, with an American student in Taipei who becomes invincible after the full power of her brain is unleashed.
Scarlett Johansson 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 percent of it.
"We always think and hear terms like, 'We only use 10 percent 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.