Review: Transcendence

Johnny Depp plays a brilliant A.I. scientist, who along with wife Rebecca Hall is aiming for an A.I. that not only thinks but feels. A group of radical luddites feel threatened by this and (led by Kate Mara) attempt to assassinate him. He isn’t shot dead, but is poisoned to the point where he will slowly die. Being a bit of a mad scientist, Depp’s reaction to this is to focus ruthlessly on his work, and aided by Hall he decides to scan and upload his mind into a computer. Once inside the computer, Depp seems to be gaining enormous power at a rapidly expanding rate. He even manages to come up with nanotechnology to heal people. Unfortunately, as Depp’s army of patched-up people grows, everyone starts to get a little…a lot worried about where this is all headed. Everyone except loyal Hall, that is, who just doesn’t see it. Paul Bettany plays a concerned colleague and family friend who is a little more circumspect about technology, Morgan Freeman plays another scientist, Cillian Murphy plays an FBI agent, Cole Hauser is a military figure, and Clifton Collins Jr. plays one of the guys Depp operates on.

 

Well-respected cinematographer Wally Pfister (Christopher Nolan’s go-to lenser) has assembled a helluva cast for his directorial debut. Johnny Depp is an actor capable of brilliance when it is his wont, I love Rebecca Hall to a slightly unhealthy degree, we all know Morgan Freeman is God, and Paul Bettany is one of the most underrated actors working today. How did this 2014 sci-fi flick fail with both critics and audiences? Well, it becomes pretty apparent once you actually watch the film why the former happened.

 

Scripted by first-timer Jack Paglen, the film feels like the script must’ve been written in the early 90s during the brief VR-craze and given only the barest of technological touch-ups that still have it feeling incredibly old-hat. I mean, this really is another ‘ghost in the machine’ flick. In 2014. Seriously. It’s the kind of film where you hear about someone wanting to end world poverty with new technology, and all you’re thinking is ‘Why wasn’t that the first thing they tried to do with technology?’

 

Johnny Depp was born to play a mad scientist, and I suppose computer geniuses are the modern versions of that, but he won’t win any accolades for his performance in this one. Granted, the role has him stuck in a machine for much of the film’s length, and his mumbly delivery is probably suited to the character, but he gets annoying and monotonous pretty quickly. There’s also the problem that the characters played by Depp and Rebecca Hall for the longest time are being portrayed as though they are the good guys, without even a hint of menace. Instead it’s the hackers led by Kate Mara who are portrayed much more sinisterly for the first ¾ of the film. I don’t think it’s merely the filmmakers trying to throw us off the scent, but poor screenwriting and direction.

 

Normally I have no problem buying into a technological threat-based plot, but Pfister Paglen’s clunky plot, and the cast just didn’t convince me. The fact that this film seems to have been brought to you by Windows 95 doesn’t help. It’s a futuristic fantasy that seems curiously and boringly retro. Hell, after a while it even starts to evoke a 50s ‘Red Scare’ picture for cryin’ out loud. That’s when it’s not covering material done better in 2013’s wonderful “Her”. It’s only after an hour that Depp’s character somewhat crosses an ethical line, but for the most part we so believe that Depp’s motives here are for the greater good that when he does indeed start acting all demonically ‘ghost in the machine’-ish, it’s actually not believable. There’s just not enough hints along the way to lead us there, he never once acts menacingly before that, and whilst it might serve to surprise you, it just doesn’t convince you. That said, once it does become blatantly obvious that Depp is a demonic Max Headroom, Rebecca Hall’s character proves to be a giant boob of the highest order. The only people dumber than her are the writer and director for thinking any of this material was fresh or surprising. Oh, and you can tell that one piece of voiceover from Morgan Freeman only exists ‘coz that’s what Morgan Freeman does in movies. There’s no genuine reason why he had to be the one to deliver that monologue.

 

This is probably better than most films of its type, but most films of its type came out more than a decade ago, and mostly sucked balls. This one just sucks a little bit. Good acting from most of the cast helps, but not nearly enough. I mean, poor Kate Mara is stuck in a character that screams 1997-1999. At best. Cillian Murphy needn’t have bothered showing up, given how little we see of him. A favour to his buddy Pfister? I hope he was well-paid for it then. On the plus side, Paul Bettany gives an excellent performance under the circumstances, and the film looks every bit as stunning as you’d expect from a cinematographer-turned-director. Strangely, Jess Hall is the cinematographer here, not Pfister himself. Hey, if Peter Hyams can do double-duty, why not Pfister?

 

This is “Lawnmower Man 2014” with a touch of Cronenberg’s “The Fly”. Shockingly out of date, and most of the blame must go to Mr. Paglen for a lack of fresh ideas. I guess Mr. Pfister has a lot of loyal friends…or a lot of really incriminating photos, because this distressingly retro sci-fi/thriller just doesn’t cut it. Did anyone read the damn script before signing on?

 

Rating: C-