It is Scarlett Johansson versus The Rock in this weekend’s battle royale at the box office.
Johansson stars in Lucy and the man formerly known as The Rock, Dwayne Johnson, stars as Hercules and one would think that the latter would be the natural winner. However, the buzz is growing for Johansson’s first starring role in an action movie after proving her mettle as Black Widow in Iron Man 2, The Avengers and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Add to that writer/director Luc Besson (who I like to describe as France’s Steven Spielberg), creator of some of the most memorable female action heroes in cinematic history in movies like La Femme Nikita, The Professional and The Fifth Element, helms what looks to be his best effort in years.
Add a dash of Morgan Freeman and one of the most original looking movies of the summer has a strong chance to become the sleeper hit of the season.
Johansson stars as the title character, a woman living in Taipei, Taiwan who is forced to work as a drug mule for the mob. She turns the tables on her captors when a drug implanted in her body inadvertently leaks into her system, allowing her to use more than the normal 10 per cent of her brain’s capacity. As a result, she becomes superhuman, absorbing mass amounts of information instantaneously and developing abilities like telekinesis, strength and agility transforming her into a warrior beyond human logic.
Becoming Hercules is a role that Dwayne Johnson seemed to be destined to play, but the already fit former wrestler underwent eight months of more intensive training to become the mythological Greek demigod.
Brett Ratner, director of the Rush Hour trilogy, Red Dragon and X-Men: The Last Stand is behind the camera for this latest version which also stars Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell, Joseph Fiennes and John Hurt.
Although it may not catch Lucy at the box office this weekend, this will definitely do better than The Legend of Hercules released earlier this year, especially since Johnson is so charismatic in every movie he is in.
