Above is the new international trailer for Lucy, the latest from Luc Besson. This thriller finds Scarlett Johansson as a regular woman (yeah, right) who is implanted with a mysterious substance she must traffick from one place to another, only to learn that it essentially makes her a superwoman who can manipulate the world around her.
Besson is known as something of a trailblazer as far as women in action, having coached Natalie Portman in Leon, directed Milla Jovovich in The Messenger: The Story Of Joan Of Arc and of course Anne Parillaud in the deeply influential La Femme Nikita, which itself spawned a remake and two successful television series. This is the first time he's gotten an action heroine who is already prepared for the rough-and-tumble, as Scarlett Johansson comes with that Marvel pedigree, having starred in three films as the Black Widow, most recently Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
This trailer for Lucy places a bit more emphasis on the abilities that Scarlett Johansson develops, and not on the ferocity of her treatment at the hands of her tormentors that soiled those earlier clips. Though to be honest, it does seem icky that so many people are cool with advertisements showcasing violence (implicitly sexual in nature) against women, because 1) it normalizes it, and 2) it is usually followed with a comeuppance that suggests violence is the only acceptable answer to violence.
But that's all modern morality talking, best left for a more appropriate forum. In fact this is mostly a chance for Scarlett Johansson to show that she can kick some ass. The footage bares a slight resemblance to Transcendence in the implication that Johansson isn't a superpowered being, but rather evolving beyond mere man. Though maybe that's just the presence of Morgan Freeman, who always seems to find his way into these increasingly silly genre movies where people make things fly with their fingers and the laws of physics become a bendy straw.
Johansson's having a pretty great year. She's already starred in the biggest box office hit thus far in The Winter Soldier, with Lucy backing up the rear this summer, and Chef currently in theaters. But she also showcased her talents in Jonathan Glaser's beguiling Under The Skin, a haunting science fiction picture of inexplicable terror that should be hitting DVD shelves by the time Lucy hits theaters. Catch the trailer below, and make sure to find a way to see it soon, for surely it will nestle up inside your brain and make a cozy home with your darkest thoughts.
