Transcendence
Dir: Wally Pfister 
2014
***
Transcendence took some flack when it was released, some of the criticism was fair but some was a little harsh. It is an impressive debut film for anyone but then Wally Pfister is one of the worlds leading Cinematographers and was more than capable in delivering a visually stunning motion picture. And it is stunning. The story is a familiar one as it has been explored quite a few times before but not since Brett Leonard's 1992 mind-numbingly confusing computer oddity, The Lawnmower Man, has a film had such a reaction. For all of its flaws I quite liked The Lawnmower Man, thanks mainly because of its disjointed quirkiness and I feel exactly the same about Transcendence. The science is baffling, whether or not what they do is possible or not is not really the point though, it is the question of whether they should do it rather then whether they could do it that is the main point of interest. I thought this film's idea of artificial intelligence (a copy of natural intelligence) was actually quite convincing but it was the conclusion of whether or not it was true AI or actually more of a transplant that I thought was the films real strength. For all the visual beauty and clever story though I do wonder if they missed a trick, I mean, this should have been the greatest B-Movie horror ever made! I'm afraid Johnny Depp was more computer when he wasn't a computer and the supporting cast weren't really given a fair crack of the acting whip. I just wish this film had been made in the 80s, with John Carpenter or David Cronenberg in the director chair. I guess if it had been I might be writing that I'd like to see a remake done in more of a serious, updated style, and Transcendence would be it and I'd probably still like the original better. I think maybe that my criticism is probably a little harsh in places too but I have to give the film credit, it stays with you and makes you think which is more than I can say with most sci-fi films these days and I did love the ending.