Johnny Depp
Rebecca Hall
Paul Bettany
Kate Mara
Cillian Murphy
Cole Hauser
Morgan Freeman

Jack Paglen

119 mins.
Sci-Fi, Drama, Mystery, Romance
April 18, 2014

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence, some bloody images, brief strong language and sensuality. (MPAA)

Supposedly, within about 30 years, according to many scientists who are experts in the field, we’ll have access to superhuman artificial intelligence, which will lead to the technological singularity (or just “the singularity”). Here’s the Wiktionary definition of the phenomenon: A predicted future event in human history caused by the ever-increasing ability of new technology to speed up the rate at which new technology is developed.

“Transcendence” takes that concept and heightens it with the inclusion of uploading human consciousness into a computer. This is an extraordinary concept, but the execution is, unfortunately, nothing more than ordinary. This is an OK film, but it could have been much more intriguing had the writers included more detailed and persuasive explanations of the concept. The triumph of Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” is that he walks us through the rules before he delves into the main plot. We feel like we’re on the inside, as a result. In this film, you’re left on the outside looking in; this is never a good thing, especially for a sci-fi film.

Wally Pfister, the Oscar-winning cinematographer for “Inception” (the cinematography in this film is solid but not awe-inspiring), makes his directorial debut here. But he didn’t apply, to this film, what he learned from making films with Nolan. (Nolan’s an executive-producer of this film, by the way.) It’s the script that counts.

In addition to needing to spell out the rules in an engaging way, this film needs to give us a reason to care about these characters from the beginning. I never cared. Nothing is properly introduced, and there’s no immediacy to make up for that. (Check out “Jurassic Park” for a great example of using immediacy to hook the audience from the beginning.)

There were moments when I thought that this film would start to take-off, but it would only stagnate. Essentially, the actors (especially Rebecca Hall) do all of the work to keep “Transcendence” from being completely boring. They help to hide the flaws in the script. (Johnny Depp just says his lines, though.) But the central love story just doesn’t work. (That love story reminded me of Spike Jonze’s “Her,” in a way.) And the best idea (regarding nanotechnology/regeneration) was disconnected from the rest of this film’s themes.

Again, where are all of the explanations? “Transcendence” does raise interesting questions: One of which revolves around the potential danger of benevolence. Also, at the end, things turn out to be the opposite of what you may have been expecting. But all of that potential power is diluted by a lackluster script and a first-time director who doesn’t know how to compensate for that script’s flaws. Here’s the bottom line: Choose your scripts wisely.

Verdict: OK

About: (Source: transcendence)

Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) is the foremost researcher in the field of Artificial Intelligence, working to create a sentient machine that combines the collective intelligence of everything ever known with the full range of human emotions.  His highly controversial experiments have made him famous, but they have also made him the prime target of anti-technology extremists who will do whatever it takes to stop him.

However, in their attempt to destroy Will, they inadvertently become the catalyst for him to succeed—to be a participant in his own transcendence.  For his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) and best friend Max Waters (Paul Bettany), both fellow researchers, the question is not if they can…but if they should.

Their worst fears are realized as Will’s thirst for knowledge evolves into a seemingly omnipresent quest for power, to what end is unknown.  The only thing that is becoming terrifyingly clear is there may be no way to stop him.