For the last few years, Wally Pfister has been the cinematographer of choice for Christopher Nolan, providing the stunning imagery for the likes of Memento, The Dark Knight, and Inception. Now, with Transcendence, Pfister is trying his hand at directing, crafting a sci-fi thriller full of big ideas, that unfortunately falls down marrying these ideas to an effective narrative.
Musing on the current state of technology, and what path it can take in the future, is nothing new. While the likes of Her kept it small, Transcendence goes as big as it can with the tale of Will Caster (Johnny Depp), whose life work is to create a viable artificial intelligence. Fatally injured in an attack by a militant anti-technology group, R.I.F.T., Caster's mind is uploaded to a computer by his distraught wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall), becoming in death what he strove to create in life. Ever evolving, this new A.I. is soon uploaded to the Internet, where it gains unlimited power, and a plan to make the world a better place. It's not hard to guess where things go from there.
Transcendence starts off well enough, effectively setting up the plot and telling us everything we need to know without straying too far into exposition land. It's when it kicks off the plot proper, the attack on Caster, that it begins to falter, spinning it's wheels for far too long, trying to develop an emotional attachment for the audience to Evelyn and Will. It succeeds for the most part, but it slows the movie way down, sometimes making the latter half of the first, and a bulk of the second, act a chore to sit through. There are a number of really interesting ideas at play here, from the A.I. itself to it's ultimate plan for a perfect world, and they are explored well enough. But for every good idea, there is a really dumb leap of logic which stops short of derailing the whole affair. Things pick up with the third act in sight, though some story beats just come out of nowhere as a means of getting characters where they need to be. While he may struggle with the narrative, Pfister's eye for the visual is still there, with some beautiful imagery peppered throughout.
A massive cast has been assembled for this. Beyond Depp and and Hall, we have Paul Bettany, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, and Kate Mara. They turn in good performances, but besides Bettany, they feel surplus to requirements. Mara doesn't do much, and her role is actually taken over by Bettany half way through, leading her to doing absolutely nothing for the last third of the movie. Murphy and Freeman, as government agents, only seem to be in there, because if someone was trying to create an artificial intelligence, of course the U.S. government would be involved. As for Depp and Hall, they actually carry the movie, and have a great chemistry, which is a good thing, because it's their love for each other which propels the plot. Thankfully, Depp foregoes putting on a character here, doing a really good job playing an emotionless computer program. He spends most of the time as an image on a screen, projecting a cold, almost menacing air. It's developing this strange relationship where the movie excels, and watching Evelyn slowly realise the man she loved has been lost forever is extremely compelling.
While not an entirely solid directorial debut from Pfister, there are some strong ideas at play, and some fine acting, but it's sadly let down by weak storytelling.
Musing on the current state of technology, and what path it can take in the future, is nothing new. While the likes of Her kept it small, Transcendence goes as big as it can with the tale of Will Caster (Johnny Depp), whose life work is to create a viable artificial intelligence. Fatally injured in an attack by a militant anti-technology group, R.I.F.T., Caster's mind is uploaded to a computer by his distraught wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall), becoming in death what he strove to create in life. Ever evolving, this new A.I. is soon uploaded to the Internet, where it gains unlimited power, and a plan to make the world a better place. It's not hard to guess where things go from there.
Transcendence starts off well enough, effectively setting up the plot and telling us everything we need to know without straying too far into exposition land. It's when it kicks off the plot proper, the attack on Caster, that it begins to falter, spinning it's wheels for far too long, trying to develop an emotional attachment for the audience to Evelyn and Will. It succeeds for the most part, but it slows the movie way down, sometimes making the latter half of the first, and a bulk of the second, act a chore to sit through. There are a number of really interesting ideas at play here, from the A.I. itself to it's ultimate plan for a perfect world, and they are explored well enough. But for every good idea, there is a really dumb leap of logic which stops short of derailing the whole affair. Things pick up with the third act in sight, though some story beats just come out of nowhere as a means of getting characters where they need to be. While he may struggle with the narrative, Pfister's eye for the visual is still there, with some beautiful imagery peppered throughout.
A massive cast has been assembled for this. Beyond Depp and and Hall, we have Paul Bettany, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, and Kate Mara. They turn in good performances, but besides Bettany, they feel surplus to requirements. Mara doesn't do much, and her role is actually taken over by Bettany half way through, leading her to doing absolutely nothing for the last third of the movie. Murphy and Freeman, as government agents, only seem to be in there, because if someone was trying to create an artificial intelligence, of course the U.S. government would be involved. As for Depp and Hall, they actually carry the movie, and have a great chemistry, which is a good thing, because it's their love for each other which propels the plot. Thankfully, Depp foregoes putting on a character here, doing a really good job playing an emotionless computer program. He spends most of the time as an image on a screen, projecting a cold, almost menacing air. It's developing this strange relationship where the movie excels, and watching Evelyn slowly realise the man she loved has been lost forever is extremely compelling.
While not an entirely solid directorial debut from Pfister, there are some strong ideas at play, and some fine acting, but it's sadly let down by weak storytelling.
