Transcendence
A Depp too far
Release Date: 25 August 2014 | 12 | 119 minutes | £ 24.99 ( Blu- ray)/£ 19.99 ( DVD) Distributor: Entertainment In Video Director: Wally Pfister Cast: Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Paul Bettany, Kate Mara, Cillian Murphy Morgan Freeman
In what’s emerged as a vintage summer for sci- fi blockbusters, Transcendence will go down as one of the year’s few critical and commercial failures. It’s a cruel fate for a film which admirably eschews explosions for big ideas.
Johnny Depp plays Will Caster, a rock star scientist who’s shot by techno- terrorists before he can finish work on an all- powerful AI. On Caster’s death bed his wife Evelyn ( Rebecca Hall) and best bud Max ( Paul Bettany) combine Will’s consciousness with the digital construct. But does WillBot really have humanity’s best interests at heart?
Depp’s fizzog may be front and centre on the poster, but Will takes a back seat fairly early. Emotionally the film hinges on Hall and Bettany, who both give nuanced and compelling performances. The problem is a languid script that strives to stimulate your brain, but rarely presents its ideas in an engaging fashion.
Though it’s beautifully shot, lingering looks at nature only accentuate the film’s pacing issues. Transcendence isn’t as bad as many may have led you to believe, but it never quite delivers on the promise of its lofty ambitions.
Extras: The DVD has two flimsy featurettes on the singularity and director Wally Pfister. The Blu- ray ( rated) adds two more on the danger and potential of AI, three viral videos and two trailers. It takes 20 minutes to watch the lot. Jordan Farley
Pfister not only shot on 35mm but finished the film photochemically, without a digital intermediate.