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Tag Archives: Luc Besson

Lucy

13 Friday Jan 2017

Posted by vinnieh in Movie Reviews

≈ 82 Comments

Tags

2010's, Action, Amr Waked, Choi Min-Sik, Luc Besson, Lucy, Morgan Freeman, Scarlett Johansson, Science Fiction

Film Title

Lucy

Director

Luc Besson

Starring

  • Scarlett Johansson as Lucy
  • Morgan Freeman as Professor Norman
  • Choi Min-Sik as Mr. Jang
  • Amr Waked as Pierre Del Rio

Lucy comes courtesy of director Luc Besson and emerges as a wholly ludicrous but enjoyable action/science fiction film. It’s big ideas and imaginings get a bit over the top and out of control, but some curious theories, bright visual palette and Scarlett Johansson as the eponymous character, more than engage with you, even when the overall film itself gets wildly uneven.

Lucy is an American woman, studying in Taipei. The film starts as her latest boyfriend and slime ball coerces her into delivering a mysterious case to a shady man named Mr. Jang. lucy-posterLucy doesn’t want to do it, but her beau handcuffs her to the case leaving her with little choice. After this, Lucy is kidnapped by Jang’s associates, who it transpires are all in the Mob. Along with a few other men and through force, a bag of drugs is sewn into her system, and she must act as a drugs mule, otherwise those closest to her will be killed. During a torturous isolation, Lucy is severely beaten by the guards. One of these moments has big consequences, as the drugs that were implanted in her for trafficking burst and leak into her bloodstream. Quickly, Lucy grows incredibly powerful and escapes. From this moment on, her abilities advance alarmingly with her being able to not feel pain, manipulate objects and people and become almost impervious to harm. As she unlocks more of her brain power, the dangers arise as no one is sure just what will occur when she hits the highest level of brain activity. Professor Norman, a respected scientist who has studied topics relating to the powers of the cerebrum, becomes fascinated and curious of this young woman and just what she is capable of. On top of this, the mobsters are on her tail, which combines with her attempting to discover more about her accelerating powers. The main question is, just what will transpire and how dangerous will it be when Lucy reaches 100%?

Luc Besson has always been a stylish director, which he shows off again generously  here. Yet while his direction is far from his best as it leaves things a little too ambiguous, his penchant for strong female warriors remains in a great quantity. LucyThe presence of the what if possibilities of the human brain(taking cues from the myth referred to in the film that humans use just 10% of their brain functions) act as both a string to the film’s bow and something that drags it down. It’s hard to explain as it ends up a bit of a mixed exercise in storytelling and ideas it brings into play. Lucy excels the most when delivering action and thrills, of which many can be gleaned. Also when it poses some philosophical questions regarding existence and time, the film shines. A great example is a scene near the end that is visually arresting and compelling to watch, but I won’t spoil it in case anyone hasn’t seen it. The film as a whole is more than a bit messy, but that scene is ace. Yet for all the probing of matter that goes on, the science and events grow absurd and a little repetitive, mainly in the mid-section. Still, somehow I couldn’t divert my eyes from Lucy, which suggests that it at least made some impact on my viewing experience. lucy review scarlettThe most arresting and attention grabbing element of Lucy was the general unpredictability arising from what Lucy’s powers and capacities would reach too, and how many were exhibited with science fiction flair. These moments were resplendent with verve and sparks of imagination, that rose above the jumbled science and lack of real logic. The visual side of Lucy is superbly designed and detailed, particularly the shots of Lucy’s body on the inside as power and acceleration take their place in her blood through rapidly speeding shocks of light that keep going and increasing. A pounding soundtrack hits just the right feelings of something mysterious and dangerous about to hit.

Scarlett Johansson is one of the best things in Lucy. As the title character, she has enough charisma and presence to make the part memorable. scarlett-johansson-lucyThe luscious Johansson is most adept at displaying Lucy’s shift from waif like innocent to omnipotent being with a detached confidence; as Lucy’s emotions thaw and all that makes her human is replaced by knowledge and steel. Some will say that she is a blank slate, but her intense eyes and focused demeanor boost the character to something else that other actresses would not have been able to do. Morgan Freeman is given scant material in a pretty thankless role, but in a style typical of him, he makes what he has good and filled with the intelligence we have come to associate with the great man. Choi Min-Sik is effectively used as the nasty mob boss who tangles with Lucy, while Amr Waked suffers from a badly written part of a police captain caught up in everything, yet at least attempts to ring something true out of it.

It’s completely barmy and preposterous, which both helps and weakens the film, but there is enough action and points of interest to be found in Lucy. Plus, the allure of Scarlett Johansson in the title role bolsters it significantly. It’s messy and scattershot, but I found myself largely entertained throughout this outrageous venture.

Leon

18 Wednesday May 2016

Posted by vinnieh in Movie Reviews

≈ 89 Comments

Tags

1990's, Crime, Danny Aiello, Gary Oldman, Jean Reno, Leon, Luc Besson, Natalie Portman, Thriller

Film Title

Leon

Director

Luc Besson

Starring

  • Jean Reno as Leon
  • Natalie Portman as Mathilda
  • Gary Oldman as Norman Stansfield
  • Danny Aiello as Tony

A stylish but most unusual crime thriller, Leon burns into the memory with explosive set pieces and an attention to the characters that is sometimes rare in the genre. Featuring some off the wall visual tricks and violence a plenty, it’s a thriller that does things a little differently but with panache.

Leon is a solitary hit man living in Little Italy who is emotionally shut off and very efficient at his job of killing others. Leon Movie PosterWhen he isn’t dispatching of people for mafioso and good friend Tony, he is quite different from the average hit man. This is evidenced in his love of old movies, consumption of milk and dedicated to tending to his plant. In essence, Leon is only in the job to make ends meet. His distance from everyone else is what makes him so good at the job as he never really forms emotional attachments to anyone. That is until he encounters Mathilda; a twelve-year-old girl who comes from a dysfunctional and abusive family and lives down the hall from him. Mathilda’s father, who regularly gives her a black eye, has been stashing cocaine in his apartment for corrupt DEA agents, headed by the crazed and depraved Norman Stansfield. Gary Oldman LeonWhen Stansfield finds out that her father has been cutting the cocaine to keep for himself, Stansfield sends his men around and they kill Mathilda’s father, mother, step-sister and four-year-old brother. Mathilda managed to avoid the carnage as she was out shopping. Seeing what has happened, the scared Mathilda knocks on Leon’s door begging for a safe haven. He has doubts at first, but something within him lets the terrified young girl in. Mathilda is a troubled girl who has had to grow up fast in an unjust world of violence, yet underneath she is still a frightened and innocent little girl. Leon is skeptical about sheltering Mathilda as he is shut off emotionally and doesn’t quite know how to express his feelings. When Mathilda discovers Leon’s job, she asks him to train her in the art of killing, secretly hoping to gain retribution for the killing of her younger brother, who was the only person in her family that she felt close to. Although he is extremely reluctant about this because he knows the dangers, at her behest he trains her and she becomes a quick learner of the art. Slowly, Leon and Mathilda form an unlikely bond with each other as he grows into the role of her protector and opens up emotionally while she emerges as his protégée. Leon and MathildaYet Stansfield has realized that he didn’t kill the whole family and sets out to find Mathilda, who herself is learning how to kill and plans to get revenge on him for the slaying of her brother. Leon finds that his job is becoming in danger like never before as Stansfield closes in and Mathilda wants vengeance.

Luc Besson, through striking visual style and interesting writing, creates a thriller that takes many different steps that one would thing. He craftily mixes personal drama and sharp bits of humour into Leon, with the main focus of the film being the relationship between the principal characters and not just the action and violence. This really struck me as something very unique in this kind of film as some thrillers and crimes movies can overlook their characters for flashy tricks. Jean Reno as LeonAnd while Leon does have rapid editing and a bright cinematography to highlight the dingy setting of the flick, complete with bloody violence to cap that off, it never loses us for a second and the scenes between Leon and Mathilda take on a more personal level. Some may find the relationship between Leon and Mathilda as uncomfortable due to overtones of Mathilda’s attraction towards Leon, but I saw it as she does love him, but as she is only a child it is an a way that is out of care and respect as she has never had a father figure like him before. An echoing score of pulsing beats gives electric immediacy to Leon, as well as taking the time to slow down and bring a poignant sense of emotion as Leon opens up as a human being in the presence of young Mathilda.

In the title role of the lonely hit man, Jean Reno is very well cast. His melancholy face is used to great effect as we watch how closed off he has been to anyone and how when he does let someone in, things start to get personal and very dangerous. Reno is the only actor I can think of playing the part, no other actor could have done the part of the hit man with a buried heart so well. Yet the biggest impression made in Leon is Natalie Portman in what was her debut role. Considering she was only twelve-years-old at the time of filming and it was her first movie, Natalie Portman showed how even at her young age she could be remarkably assured as she plays Mathilda with confidence and seeming ease. Natalie Portman LeonSome of the things the script calls for are daring for such a young actress to play as the character has had to toughen herself against an abusive home and the horrors of the world, but with an emotional core and sassy demeanor tempered with a troubled nature, Natalie Portman delivers a truly knockout performance. This is the kind of performance that stands as one of the best debuts in celluloid history for its striking maturity and memorability. As the gloriously corrupt and completely whacked out Stansfield, Gary Oldman is frightening and over the top in the extreme, but it fits the unpredictable character so well and makes him a dark villain. Danny Aiello succeeds in making his character of mafioso Tony who has loyalty to Leon, very good and a a good supporting character.

An audacious movie combining style, substance and occasional wit, Leon sets itself apart from many crime thrillers with its detail to characters and fresh approaches to things that make it quite unexpected.

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