Lucy (2014)

Neither the best nor the worst action pic of the summer, this thriller about a woman who accidentally gains super powers is still pretty fun, with Scarlett Johannsson in the title role, Luc Besson directing and writing, and great location shots of Taipei, Paris, and other places. Johansson (last blogged in Under the Skin) is no stranger to this genre and conducts herself well as she gets stronger and stronger, Morgan Freeman (most recently in Now You See Me) is the professor who explains it all for you.

Besson, a Frenchman whose last picture The Family is on a billboard in one scene, is a maître of crime action and science fiction, and he keeps the pace going with the able help of cinematographer Thierry Arbogast (Heartbreaker) and composer Eric Serra, whose excellent score you can stream on youtube.

Two of my rules are in effect: Rule 12, which states that one can always survive driving the wrong way on a crowded one-way thoroughfare, and Rule 2, that one can always see the Eiffel Tower if one is in Paris. See the complete list here.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics liked this better at 65% than its audiences at 48. It's still on some big screens here (#11 at the box office after six weeks) and you may enjoy it if you're caught up with everything else you want to see.