Transcendence,
which is directed by Wally Pfister and stars Johnny Depp alongside a slew of
great actors, appeared at first to be a
stand out sci fi film amid an ocean of under thought and recycled movies that have filled the genre
in recent years. However the films lack
luster reviews made me keep my distance
at first but I finally got around to seeing it.
The film
follows Dr Will Castor (Depp) who is a scientist on the verge of creating the
first fully aware artificial intelligence (AI). Unfortunately for him there is
a group of anti technology protestors
who are so committed to their cause that they are willing to kill every
scientist involved in the research.
Castor is shot following a lecture on the subject but survives only to
find out the bullet was radioactive and will kill him in less than a month. With the help of his wife Evelyn (Rebecca
Hall, Iron Man 3) and his best friend Max (Paul Bettany, A beautiful mind) he
decides to try and transfer his consciousness into a digital AI as a last ditch
effort to preserve himself. Castor
passes away and shortly after it seems that he is able to communicate through
the computer. However because of some odd behaviors, Max is not convinced that
it is actually Castor or just an AI programmed to think that it is.
Max
begs Evelyn to let go of Castor and delete the program before leaving. Soon after that the protestors show up. They
were on to what Castor was trying to do before he died and try to prevent him
from getting online by destroying the whole computer set up. Evelyn was able to upload him at the last
second and escapes. Castor, now online, helps her hide while exposing the
protestors to the FBI and planning to build a new bigger lab that will help him
with his “plans”. The rest of the movie plays back and forth with whether it is
Castor or not. If it is are we as
humanity ready to handle such a jump and if it isn’t him then can we stop him
before he enslaves us all.
So is
it any good, well yeah, it actually is despite
it’s flaws. The director was the director of cinematography on most Christopher
Nolan’s films so it’s very well shot with a really subtle score that really
brings out the emotion of the film. The actors are second to none. Morgan
Freeman (if you need me to list a movie he’s been in then you probably shouldn’t
be reading this!), Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins), Kate Mara (House of Cards)
and Clifton Collins Jr (Pacific Rim) fill out the supporting roles so even the
littlest scenes have intensity. And the
story is just really good, you never really know for sure which direction the
film is going until it gets there. Most
of the story follows Evelyn and her struggles to love her husband in a computer
form or fear the program that she thinks it might be. She is constantly mourning his death and
loving him at the same time and it is very compelling.
The bad
news. It may be a good story but it isn’t
actually written well. For a movie based
mostly on technology the writer really didn’t seem to have a grasp of how it
really works and it shows. When a Star Trek Captain spits out technobable you
know it’s not based on science but the actors are so confident you buy it. I
swear there are a couple times in this movie where even the actors have a “are
you serious” look on their faces. The same thing goes for the government agency
scenes. Towards the end the FBI is
trying to stop the program and they flat out state pre mission that if they
fail the program might attack the world, and if they win they will knock out
every electronic device on the planet.
Yet no one ever mentions maybe consulting anyone over the level of a
field agent on this. I’m pretty sure if you’re
going to endanger the world you need to at least discuss this with a general or
a Secretary of Defense, maybe even Sarah Palin. The real shortcomings however
come in the underutilization of the secondary cast. Freeman, Mara and Bettany get the most amount
of screen time but they are never really developed well and seem really
subdued. Murphy is limited to way too
few lines and Collins is never given the chance to really bring the intensity
he is known for. Most of this is
probably due to the fact that while the director has tons of cinematography
credits this is his first shot in the director’s chair itself.
Would I
recommend it? Yes, it is a pretty good
lazy Sunday afternoon movie. Depp is solid in it and it is a more original story compared to
what else is out there. It’s worth renting rather than buying however due to its
lack of rewatchability.
