On DVD/Blu-ray: 'Transcendence'
By Christopher Lloyd , Herald-Tribune
/ Monday, July 21, 2014
A box office and critical bomb, "Transcendence" is one of those movies that at least doesn't suffer from a lack of trying.
This big, ambitious sci-fi thriller starring Johnny Depp posits a world in which artificial intelligence is threatening to take over, with promises of infinite knowledge and immortality – as long as humans are willing to give up control and subvert their free will.
Depp plays Will Caster, a brilliant scientist who wants to build a sentient computer. He is forced to make himself the subject of his experiment when he is fatally wounded by anti-technology terrorists. With the help of his wife (Rebecca Hall) and reluctant best friend (Paul Bettany), he uploads his consciousness into a super computer.
The recomposed Will spreads across the Internet like a virus, and quickly makes breakthrough discoveries in medicine, energy and nanotechnology. He oversees the construction of a utopia-like town in the desert, and begins conscripting an army of henchmen controlled by his technology.
There are a lot of huge, thoughtful ideas in this movie. The screenplay by Jack Paglan had languished on the Black List of promising but unproduced scripts for years. But first-time director Wally Pfister, a cinematographer by trade, is clearly out of his depth, lacking the storytelling chops to translate such a complex narrative with overarching themes.
In the end, "Transcendence" is a slave to its science fiction tropes, rather than rising above them and giving us something new.
Video extras are OK, though you'll have to spring for the more expensive Blu-ray combo pack to get most of them. The DVD version contains only two featurettes, "What Is Transcendence?" and "Wally Pfister: A Singular Vision."
On the Blu-ray you'll get four more making-of featurettes, and theatrical trailers.
Directed by Wally Pfister. Written by Broderick Johnson, Andrew A. Kosorve, Kate Cohen, Marisa Polvino, Annie Marter, David Valdes, Aaron Ryder. Stars Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Paul Bettany, Kate Mara, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman. 119 min. PG-13: for sci-fi action and violence, some bloody images, brief strong language and sensuality.
GRADES: Movie: C; Extras: C+
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