Transcendence had the potential to be magnificent. It had Christopher Nolan's longtime cinematographer at the helm, it had a dynamic premise, and a more than capable cast. The end result, in my gentlest terms, frankly turned out terrible.
Will Caster is an artificial intelligence researcher who is shot by an anti-technological group. The radiation bullet wound gives him some five weeks to live. Using research conducted by a colleague, his wife Evelyn and best friend Max upload his consciousness to an AI system in hopes to save him. It proves successful, but the artificial entity seeks more power, and Max questions the cost.
As I said, the movie had a story that had potential to be brilliant. However, in execution the plot had a gaping pacing problem which caused it to alternate speeding up the plot or lingering and creating a yawn inducing lull. There are admittedly spots that are interesting, yet the span of the entire film is for the most part uninspired and listless. Nothing ever makes us feel for the characters, nor is the story fleshed out enough to make us realize the intensity of the stakes.
In addition, the symbolism and imagery is spoon fed to the viewer like mushed peas and strained carrots. It is basically told outright what the filmmakers want you to analyze in the plot, rather than taking advantage of the potential allegorical themes that could have made the film stand out. I wouldn't even go so far as to call it metaphorical in any semblance. It's a blatant, grammatical simile that is visited far too often to create any subtlety.
For it's credit, given director Wally Pfister's history of cinematography, the film is beautifully shot and has spectacular visuals. I anticipate Pfister shouldn't have much problem in that field with future endeavors, he just needs to sharpen his other tools.
Against what I've ranted in the past, Johnny Depp has proven himself to be a fantastic actor. But in an unbiased reception to his performance here, Depp is clearly phoning it in. Sure, it kinda works when the character is a face on a computer screen, but beyond that, even when the character is alive, he is flat, wooden and emotionless. Depp has a tendency to be wildly eccentric with his roles, but he has gone to the most distant end of the spectrum here. There has to be some healthy, balanced middle ground, and when he finds it, I will be more than happy to watch.
Rebecca Hall does her best as Will's wife Evelyn, and to her credit she has some great scenes, but it's more of the same as Depp in which she doesn't expand her reach too far. The same problem with a majority of the actors. It's most likely that Pfister isn't giving his actors the amount of attention that they require. It's a rookie mistake, however seeing as this is his freshman effort, he gets a mulligan.
Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy and Paul Bettany are by far the most dynamic performers in the film. They boast a range of emotion, whilst not glorifying, goes beyond the levels of anyone else in the film. And off the record, Cillian Murphy has some of the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen, and I say that with no regrets.
Transcendence is squandered potential with a listless plot, heavy handed imagery, and weak acting. Give it a pass.
C
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