Curiously, they are all science fiction films, none are mainstream blockbusters and each is a really interesting and enjoyable film with some cool special effects and a great premise. But none of them completely works. Under the Skin probably comes closest and it was the oddest and smallest of the lot.
This is an interesting turning point in Johansson’s career. Evidently she can pick and choose interesting roles that stretch her acting talents and mix them with the occasional massive pay day (she’s also in Captain America: The Winter Soldier at the moment).
In Under the Skin and Lucy, Johansson plays it very cool and very straight. Why aliens and super humans should be so unemotional is a mystery, but sure enough it’s this vulnerability that proves to be the driver of their inner torment and their ultimate fate.
Lucy’s superpowers come from her brain’s ever increasing capacity caused by a massive overdose of a new drug which some Korean gangsters in Taiwan plant inside her to traffic into Europe. So yes, Lucy is contrived, implausible and factually incorrect (humans use 100 per cent of their brain just not all at the same time).
If you can get past the plot knots and the inconsistencies (like why does a woman who can travel through time and space need to fly business class or drive a car?) then what’s left is well worth the price of a ticket.
