Scarlett Johansson and Only 89 Minutes

So, the last time we caught up with Scarlett Johansson she was mostly nekkid, until she molted into some kind of vampire space critter, in the incomprehensible “Under the Skin.” In the title role of Luc Besson’s “Lucy,” she stays clad. And for those of you who worship the actress, this movie is a must-see, on account of she becomes God. Or pretty darn close. Lucy’s an ordinary gal hanging around Taipei and consorting with international creeps, one of whom gets her to make a sketchy drop-off of a briefcase to a Mr. Jang by the simple expedient of handcuffing the thing to her wrist and sending her into the building. This is bad. The briefcase contains four packets of a blue crystalline powder, which proves that Besson was watching “Breaking Bad.” But this isn't some mundane crystal meth here. Nope, this is CPH4, which is what gets produced during pregnancy in very small doses to allow the fetus to grow bones and stuff. Or something like that. But when you surgically implant it in a person’s intestines to transport it somewhere else without detection, and the stupid henchmen kick the drug mule in the stomach, the bag leaks. And if you are dealing with a gut full of the Elixir of Life, that means you’ve got a situation where a pretty blonde woman absolutely kicks the crap out of assorted evil, leering henchmen without any apparent effort. Meanwhile, Morgan Freeman is Professor Norman, trying to explain to a lecture audience how it is that humans only use about 10 percent of their brain capacity — 20 percent on a really good day. Lucy gets progressively brainier, absorbing computer files lickety-split and messing with the time-space continuum. And Mr. Jang and the bad guys are still after her. “Lucy” requires an unusually robust (not to mention willing, if not eager) suspension of disbelief. But hey, so did “2001: A Space Odyssey,” which also featured primitive man. Oh, I forgot to mention, right before Lucy becomes God, she goes back in time and connects with “Lucy,” of Olduvai Gorge fame. Like “2001,” Lucy also has psychedelic freak-out scenes. Unlike Kubrick’s film, however, “Lucy” also has gangsters, guns, and gore. And a very long car chase. Besson (who also wrote the screenplay) wisely doesn’t spend a lot of time explaining things. And the film is paced so that, as Lucy gets closer to 100 percent brain use, the action is ramped up. All in all, it’s an entertaining mix of elements that clocks in at a brisk 89 minutes, which is the perfect running time for a movie. “Lucy” is rated R for violence, sex.