Transcendence

I love Johnny Depp okay? But anyone who is completely honest has to agree that this man has been phoning in his acting since Jack Sparrow first pranced down that dock back in 2003. He has had a few glimmers of the old pre-pirates Depp in movies like Finding Neverland, Secret Window, and Public Enemies. I take nothing away from his zany characters but for too long has he been comfortable hiding behind prosthetics, pounds of makeup, and a quirky character. Wally Pfister has been nominated four times for Best Cinematography and won once. He was the Cinematographer on every one of Christopher Nolan's films. All of which I love so I was more than intrigued that he would debut as a Director for Transcendence. I am happy to report that Depp has transcended his stereotypical bizarre characters to actually acting again and Pfister has transcended Nolan's shadow to make his own mark.

Artificial intelligence is a tricky subject. We're beyond asking if it's possible because it exists. But what happens when AI becomes self aware? Becomes independent of human interaction? Dr. Will Caster and his wife Evelyn are leading the scientific community in search of these answers. But anyone who watches the Syfy channel can tell you some questions shouldn't be answered. There are some out there who believe this really passionately. So passionately they will stop at nothing to prevent an AI from actually being self aware. Nothing includes bombing research facilities, poisoning scientists, and even shooting Will Caster. (Those same people who watch Syfy will now speak up saying how that never stopped a good story)

I sometimes think that if aliens ever discovered earth they would just leave us alone: "Yep, no intelligent beings here!" Nothing reinforces this idea more than when a movie comes out that tries to get you to think. Some times movie are accidentally brilliant (I proudly tout The Purge as the greatest example of this) So many people hated Inception, The Prestige, and Memento. All Nolan movies yes, and also Wally Pfister was the Cinematographer on every one. So there are moments that you can see some Nolan (who served as Executive Producer) creeping through the frames but they are few and far between. But Pfister does something more, He creates an intelligent movie. At times a movie that is self aware in its own intelligence. And if there's one thing American audiences hate, its being made to think about what they're watching.
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