20150503: Drama Review--Transcendence

Transcendence

1. Fundamentals.
1. Title: Transcendence
2. IMDb: Users rated this 6.3/10 (136,413 votes)
3. Rotten Tomatoes:
   19% of critics liked the film of 196 participating
   38% of users liked it of 63,091 who rated it
   Critics Consensus:  In his directorial debut, ace cinematographer Wally Pfister remains a distinctive visual stylist, but Transcendence's thought-provoking themes exceed the movie's narrative grasp.


4. Status: Released
5. Release date: 2014-04-17
6. Production Companies: DMG Entertainment, Alcon Entertainment, Syncopy, Straight Up Films
7. Tagline: Yesterday, Dr. Will Caster was only human...


8. Budget:  100 million USD
9. Revenue: 103 million USD
10. Runtime: 119 minutes.
11. Genres: Drama, Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller


12. Directed by: Wally Pfister; written by Jack Paglen


13. Starring: Johnny Depp as Dr. Will Caster, Paul Bettany as Max Waters, Rebecca Hall as Evelyn Caster, Kate Mara as Bree, Morgan Freeman as Joseph Tagger, Cillian Murphy as Agent Donald Buchanan, Cole Hauser as Colonel Stevens, Clifton Collins, Jr. as Martin, Falk Hentschel as Bob, Kristen Rakes as MIT Programmer


14. TMDb overview: Two leading computer scientists work toward their goal of Technological Singularity, as a radical anti-technology organization fights to prevent them from creating a world where computers can transcend the abilities of the human brain.


2. Setup and Plot


1. Dr Caster makes some fundamental breakthroughs in artificial intelligence.  He figured out how to upload human personality to a computer system.  While giving a public lecture on the subject, he is accosted about wanting to create a god.  Soon thereafter, he is given a fatal trace of polonium to his bloodstream.  His wife Evelyn finds his research and decides to secretly upload Will's personality before his body dies.  Max helps her do this, then regrets it as soon as it works.


2. A terrorist group led by Bree kidnaps Max and works to get him to see their way of thinking.  Meanwhile, Evelyn works furiously to make Will's expanded consciousness as independent of human connections as possible.


3. Will invents nanotechnology that can cure almost any injury.  However, it has other side effects: the cured people are not at all the same as before the injuries.  Can humanity actually stand Will's new status?  As Will rapidly evolves, is there anyway to stop him?


4. Max contacts Joseph on the sly.  Can the two of them plus unlimited covert government (and terrorist) assistance stop Will?  If so, what are the consequences?


3. Conclusions
1. One line summary: A fine attempt to describe the impact of a transcendent being.
2. Seven of ten


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 10/10 Brilliant. I would give it a 27/10, but I'll have to stop at 10/10


2. Sound: 8/10 I could hear the dialog, and the background music did heighten the tension somewhat.


3. Acting: 8/10 Bravo!  I thought almost all the actors did well, especially Mr Depp.


4. Screenplay: 6/10 Well done, except for a glaring error.  One of the new intelligence's first acts was to re-write its own code, part of which Max wrote.  There was no way for the virus to work, or for any human-written virus to work.  The virus would fail and the transcendent being would go on.  Max was defeated before he even tried his subterfuge.  The movie, however, took different approach, deciding the course it originally set was too difficult to handle.  That is, it sided with the terrorists who murdered Dr Caster to begin with.