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Rating of
2/4
Disappointment of the year
ikkegoemikke - wrote on 10/09/2017
"We're not going to fight them, we're going to transcend them."
Impatiently and with high expectations I've been waiting for this movie. Ultimately this is just a familiar story, with an expensive casing, that has been told already several times. It's again a plea with an admonishing finger, against the ever-growing information technology, especially in the field of artificial intelligence. There's a denouncement about the danger of a self unfolding artificial consciousness, that grows into a dictatorial monstrosity that has an infinite hunger for power.
The one who's responsible for directing this SF is Wally Pfister. A totally unknown person for many. Actually, you could call him the personal cameraman of Christopher Nolan. With the latter he has made "Memento", "Insomnia", …
Rating of
3/4
"Transcendence" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 03/03/2016
An expert in the field of artificial intelligence has his mind uploaded into a quantum computer which fuels a revolt by technophobic terrorists fearing the subjugation of humanity. The old adage of "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely" is explored once more as Johnny Depp is transformed into a combination of Skynet and Doctor Manhattan. The film is of the more cerebral type of sci-fi, concerning itself with concepts rather than action and the script takes pains never to take sides; it is never entirely clear who are the "good guys" and who are the bad; the moral ambiguity in the idea of a "benevolent dictator" is the crux of the story, weighing the benefits to the "common good" against individual freedom. The strong cast all perform admirably, although Depp's HAL 9000-like …
Rating of
1.5/4
How thin must a screenplay be?
memento_mori - wrote on 05/15/2014
I have always been weary when it comes to big-budget, hugely hyped and marketed films by the people who worked with the big people (an example being Tony Gilroy's take on Bourne), and yet again I had reason to, because as profound and philosophical as this tim may look, Wally Pfister missed the mark so terribly in his disastrous take on boring science fiction nonsense.
A motif in this film is a drop of water falling in slow motion from a dandelion. The reason I use this as a piece of evidence to this film's fault is precisely because it represents the entire film: it makes no sense whatsoever. There is not a bit about water in the entire film, nor do they ever mention flowers or does anything have to do with this obvious attempt at symbolism.
Enough with nitpicking, though, let's …
Rating of
2/4
Transcends the Limits of Plausibility
Chris Kavan - wrote on 04/20/2014
There are good sci-fi films and there are bad sci-fi films - but often they are at least entertaining sci-fi films - but Transcendence breaks the cardinal rule - it is a boring sci-fi film. The idea behind the film is solid - the rise of AI and what that means for the future of humanity. But the movie opens on the ending (literally, the first five minutes are the aftermath of the rest of the film) so we already know how things are going to turn out. But then things show promise - Will Caster (Johnny Depp) and his science-minded wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) are going to give some big speeches in order to drum up funding for their research. But a series of coordinated attacks across the nation target AI facilities - killing many and setting back research by decades. Also, Will is shot. …
