Transcendence

There have been many films made that are created with the premise of 'it's not whether we can do a certain thing, it's whether we should. Hum, "Jurassic Park" comes to mind as does "Lawnmower Man". Now we have "Transcendence" to mull over with that similar premise. Odd how all these films are usually based in the implausible, this film being of no exception.

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 including Bree (Kate Mara) and Bob (Falk Hentschel), 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), best friend Max Waters (Paul Bettany) and colleague Joe Tagger (Morgan Freeman), all 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.

Others to round out the cast are Cillian Murphy as Agent Buchanan, Clifton Collins Jr. as Martin, Cole Hauser as Colonel Stevens, Cory Hardrict as Joel Edmund, Josh Stewart as Paul, Luce Rains as Roger, Fernando Chien as Heng, Steven Liu as Chiu, and Xander Berkeley as Dr. Thomas Casey.

This was adequately directed by Wally Pfister. If the name doesn't sound familiar, his resume will be. He was cinematographer for films like "The Italian Job" '03, "Batman Begins" '05, "The Dark Knight" '08, "Inception" '10, "Moneyball" '11, "The Dark Knight Rises" '12 and others. I suspect he's attempting the transition to the director's chair this being his debut as director. Another cinematographer that made the same transition directed "Speed" and "Twister" obviously otherwise very successful. Perhaps Pfister can succeed as well. It was written by Jack Paglen and he as well has no other writing credit. For this being his first screenplay, this was a decent script--he should receive more work. As aforementioned, this was totally implausible, but is one can put aside the implausibility, this was a intriguing story which smacks of morality, and 'you better watch out what you ask for, because you may get it' syndrome. To quote character Max Waters in the film, "We can love someone, but hate what they do, but a machine can't reconcile that".

The best thing I can say for films like this is that they can cause one to think, because even if this premise is implausible, it brings up the concept of... what if? You be the judge.

Out of 4 Stars: 3                            Rated: PG-13                         119mins.