ASMSG Scifi Fantasy Paranormal Emagazine August 2014 | Page 14

SFP Indie Issue 3
supposed to do with pure energy? I
invested a lot of my emotions in this
woman, and now she just disappears? And
just like Professor Norman, I am left with
nothing but a thumb drive with a bunch of
ones and zeroes on it. Great. I guess I
should start that backup now. Oh wait, she
melted all the computers.
HOW MIGHT THIS HAVE
WORKED?
The movie already has the elements of a
great sci-fi action thriller—bad guys,
experimental drugs, exotic locations and a
woman who, though she graduated Phi
Beta Kappa, starts out dumb as spit when
it comes to choosing men. Speaking of
bad guys, the only thing better than a
Korean bad guy is pairing him with an
English bad guy. Bravo, Luc!
As I said before, I was good with
everything until the fateful meeting with
Professor Norman. Previously, she had
only spoken to him by phone or video
screen. He was becoming her Alfred. But
once she meets with the good professor
and other scientists, we’re transported to
the Science Channel as Lucy’s brain
utilization increases and everyone
discusses the nature of Time and Space. At
this point, I wouldn’t have been surprised

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if everyone adjourned to a nice restaurant
and spent the next five hours discussing
Sartre or the symbolism behind clowns in
horror movies.
Here’s my idea for a third act. When Mr.
Jang and his army arrive at the university
to kill Lucy, she is already starting to lose
her powers because the drug is wearing
off. That, coupled with a blinding
headache and other side effects from the
drug, it’s a question of whether she can
still take out the bad guys before they can
kill her. A massive final battle ensues
where
everything—the
university,
everything—is destroyed as Lucy battles
with Mr. Jang and his men while becoming
weaker and weaker.
At a critical moment, Mr. Jang shoots
Lucy. Weak and bloody she still manages
to send him to hell. Then she collapses as
the professor makes his way to her. As the
professor examines her, he realizes that
she is once again human. How? Well, her
irises appear normal. Working fast, he and
Del Rio get her to the hospital, where
surgeons operate on her and she recovers.
Epilogue. Lucy is standing outside the
airport with Del Rio. She’s going home to
see her parents. He says, “I guess we’ll
never know what would have happened

had you hit a hundred percent.” Just then,
a toddler drifts into the path of an
oncoming taxi, his mother running after
him and screaming in French. Suddenly,
the taxi stops completely, as if Time itself
had stopped. The crying mother retrieves
her child as Del Rio stares at Lucy in
amazement. “What?” she says, smiling.
Then she kisses the cop on the cheek and
walks into the terminal. Setup for a sequel?
You bet.
THE WRONG QUESTION
Every great movie asks a question at the
beginning that must be answered at the
end. In ‘Lucy,’ the question appears to be
“what would happen if we could access
our whole brain instead of just ten
percent?” To me, that’s the wrong
question. It has nothing to do with a
hero’s life. What happened to Lucy could
have happened to anyone—the conniving
boyfriend, the French cop or Professor
Norman.
I think a better question is, “Will Lucy
become the person she is meant to be?”
With my ending, I think the movie would
have answered that. It still would have
been a kick-ass story and we would have
left the theatre satisfied that Lucy
completed the hero’s journey.