Transcendence

Sometimes there is a concept for a film that is full of potential. The idea of the technological singularity is one such concept. The singularity is a point in which artificial intelligence surpasses that of humans. Transcendence starts on that path but then gets confusing and not even great acting from actors playing minor parts can help this lacklustre story.

I think that has to do with first time director Wally Pfister. Despite not knowing his name, I'm sure that the majority of you reading this are familiar with his work. Pfister has worked for many years as Christopher Nolan as his cinematographer on the recent Batman films among others. As a result of this work, Transcendence is a good looking film. He has been able to take his own visual style and enforce it as a director.

It can't be the actors that drag this film down either. Surely? Johnny Depp playing a straight Johnny Depp character. Rebecca Hall undecided about whether or not what is happening is the right thing. The best performances come from Paul Bettany and Kate Mara.

But even someone who has been on enough sets with a director like Nolan must have learned enough lessons about being a director. So it must be the story. This is the first script that has been produced for writer Jack Paglan. As I said, the initial concept is promising. The idea of a man uploading his consciousness to a computer, where he will cause the technological singularity is cool, but once the story became about creating human-robot hybrids I was lost.

The film is bookended by some interesting scenes where the world is devoid of technology. I feel like this would be a more interesting place to set the film with flashbacks showing us what caused it.

Verdict: A beautiful looking film that has a complete mess of a story. I think everyone in the cinema with me felt confused about what had happened.