Transcendence

Rating : 7/10
Release Date : 18th April, 2014
Time : 119 minutes
Director : Wally Pfister; Writer : Jack Paglen; Music : Mychael Danna
Starring : Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Morgan Freeman, Paul Bettany, Cillian Murphy, Kate Mara, Clifton Collins Jr, Josh Stewart



This film takes thoughts seeded by predecessors like Terminator series, iRobot and even the recent ‘Her’ to a logical next level…what happens if we let a self-aware artificial intelligence with an almost human consciousness loose on our planet ? What will the AI do ? And equally important, how will we humans react ?

Johnny Depp, a celebrity scientist, has been trying to build one such AI, with the help of his wife, Rebecca and in co-operation with a couple of eminent personalities, Paul Bettany and Morgan Freeman amongst them. Even the government, represented by an FBI agent Cillian Murphy is impressed and keeping tabs on the developments. But there are a group of very tech savvy radicals, led by Kate Mara (nice to see her outside House of Cards) who see it as the beginning of a very slippery slope and are determined to stop him and it by any means. They attempt to assassinate Depp. And then their worst nightmares come true…

The film is very (and quite unnecessarily) slow paced. There are a million logical inconsistencies, which I’m sure will be obvious to any watcher. But it does raise some fascinating questions – and shows, at least in a couple of realms, what could be possible by such an AI – especially using nano-technology. There are also some lovely visuals – rain against the windshield reflecting light, a monstrous array of solar panels in the desert, pristine white corridors, sunflowers blooming, droplets of water falling and spreading…all accompanied by a great music score…

I felt Johnny Depp, with his limited screen presence, looked out of place in this role. It didn’t really need him. Rebecca and Paul Bettany really caught the eye with excellent performances, with Kate doing it more with her shocking bleached blond locks.

I find such films fascinating…trying to take the questions raised to their logical conclusion. Am reminded often of the line in Matrix, which points out that the human race is actually the real virus afflicting out planet. And the more such films I watch, the more I observe around me, the more I find its true…