Cinematographer for such Christopher Nolan films as The Dark Knight, The Prestige and Inception, Wally Pfister's directorial debut has such a simplistic storyline it could work as a single episode in a sci-fi series – and a predictable one at that. Dr Will Caster (a stiff Johnny Depp) is attacked by an anti-technology group and given weeks to live. His wife Evelyn (a conflicted Rebecca Hall, much more the film's star than Depp) and friend Max (Paul Bettany) decide to upload Will's consciousness using parts of an advanced artificial intelligence project Will has been working on, preserving his mind. Evelyn, despite Max's reservations at the ethical implications of the project, then connects the Sentient-AI-Will-Machine to the internet, thereby making him omnipresent. Cyber-Will blurs morals with science and technology in the name of evolution (apparently advanced bio-tech looks a lot like magic?), which really grinds the anti-technology group's gears; you know how the rest goes. Despite some slick futuristic set pieces and often poetic camera work, Transcendence's narrow and sloppy treatment of its premise and themes means that nothing lingers after the film's over. What could have provided fresh commentary on an ever-timely topic instead tediously and uncohesively rehashes existing (and arguably dated) plots, while taking itself much too seriously.
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