A brilliant innovator in the field of Artificial Intelligence becomes the bridge in the gap between man and machine in this sci-fi thriller starring Johnny Depp. His entire career, Dr. Will Caster (Depp) has been working toward one goal -- to create a machine possessing the entire spectrum of human emotions, and the collective intelligence of every person who has ever lived. But while Dr. Caster's unorthodox experiments have made him famous in scientific circles, a radical anti-tech group known as Rift is determined to stop him at all costs. In the midst of an attack on A.I. labs across the United States, one Rift agent manages to shoot Dr. Caster with a radioactive bullet, ensuring his death. Little did Rift realize that their efforts to destroy Dr. Caster would only make him stronger than they ever could have imagined, because before he dies, his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) and best friend Max (Paul Bettany) successfully transfer Dr. Caster's consciousness into a computer, where his hunger for knowledge and power transforms him into an unstoppable force of sentient energy inhabiting every computer and electrical system on the planet. Morgan Freeman co-stars. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Director: Wally Pfister
Cast: Johnny Depp, Paul Bettany, Rebecca Hall, Morgan
Freeman, Kate Mara
Release Date: Apr
18, 2014
Rated: PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence, some bloody
images, brief strong language and
sensuality
Runtime: 1 hr. 59 min.
Genres: Action/Adventure, Suspense/Thriller
Review:
Transcendence is a movie that desperately wants you to think
that it’s intelligent. It throws so much
technobabble at you that you vaguely start to think it might be smart. Until
you snap out of it and realize it is a hodgepodge of sci-fi tropes and clichés
is nothing but a silly Frankenstein, Skynet, Her retread. Wally Pfister, Christopher Nolan’s long time
award winning cinematographer, first film is visually impressive but
thematically empty. Pfister’s style is wasted
on such a silly script and story. Even
worse it’s filled with top name talent that’s wasted throughout. Some people might be comforted by the fact
that Depp isn’t doused in two pounds of make up in this film but the trick’s on
you because he disappears from the film fairly quickly with the majority of the
film’s performance done by an avatar. I
had a passing thought that his contract stated he’s do this movie if he only
physically had to be there at the start and end of filming. Rebecca Hall and Paul Bettany are given
fairly thankless roles of looking sad and not much else, Bettany is allowed to
grow a beard at one point so that counts for something. Kate Mara, whose creepy looking enough,
sports a bad blonde dye job and enough black eye mascara to give a raccoon
pause. Even worse off are poor Morgan
Freeman and Cillian Murphy who, I assume, thought were shooting another Batman
film and were thoroughly disappointed when they showed up, much like you will
be when this crock is over.
D
