Transcendence (Pfister, 2014)

While a lot of people credit the look of a film to the director, it's actually the cinematographer who deserves a lot more attention. However, the director's unique visual style as an autuer earns rightful praise because of the way the director helps the director of photography (DP) to shoot the picture. Christopher Nolan, for example, always made his films with cinematographer Wally Pfister, the Oscar-winning DP who has filmed most of the director's main projects (including Inception, The Prestige, Memento, and The Dark Knight Trilogy)  I've always wondered what a famous cinematographer would do with his own control of the direction, to see who actually creates the works we all love. Does Wally Pfister's direction of the photography make Nolan movies so incredible and epic, or is it the director's hand that masterfully combines all the elements to create a one-of-a-kind show?

Transcendence, Wally Pfister's directorial debut, proves that it takes more than firm control of the camera to make a movie. 

Overly melodramatic and achingly slow, Pfister's sci-fi tale is neither innovative nor interesting. He takes pre-established fears of technology and tries to say something powerful, but ends up falling flat when he finally gets to the message. Despite looking quite nice, the film suffers from a god-awful screenplay and a painful performance from Johnny Depp. 

Transcendence begins with a technological conference, where Will Caster (Johnny Depp) is the keynote speaker. He's an ingenious programer that dreams of a future filled with highly advanced artificial intelligence. Along with his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) and best friend Max (Paul Bettany),  Will works to create that world. But after the conference, Will is shot by an unnamed terrorist who is part of an organization that seeks to disconnect society's dependence on technology. Fearing life after her husband's death, Evelyn proposes that they upload Will's consciousness into a computer. 

Despite objections from Max, they go through with the plan and give the machine all that Will is. When he dies, they find themselves face-to-face with the machine, who seemingly has the memories and knowledge of their old friend. But (shocking!), things start to go wrong as Will gains power and network access. Transcendence then turns into a technological fable, which teaches us that eventually we will grow so dependent on blah blah blah blah blah. 

Audiences have heard the same song and dance routine before, and there's nothing that makes Transcendence different from, say, 2001: A Space Odyssey, I, Robot, or The Matrix. Those movies all brought something new to the table, which Pfister does not really do here. The plot is beyond cliched, and the crappy dialogue only adds to the writer's nightmare. 

The cast does their best to work with what they're given, and Morgan Freeman, Paul Bettany, Cillian Murphy, and Kate Mara give typically good performances. Rebecca Hall is the only bright star here, showcasing real emotional trauma and the questioning of morals. It's a shame she has about as much chemistry with her screen husband as Padme and Anakin do in the Star Wars prequels.

Johnny Depp gives a hurtfully lackluster acting "job" in Transcendence, literally just going through the motions and reading his lines from one scene to the next. We feel nothing for him- no empathy, no sympathy, no resemblance of a connection whatsoever. It's the type of work viewers expect from a high school theater show. Plus, the chemistry between Will and Evelyn, which is so integral to the understanding of the movie, is so bad it feels worse than fake. We cannot believe a love story where there's more passion between a lawn mower and grass. Depp is plain flat, uninteresting, and most of all disappointing. I'm a huge fan of the actor, but this was the first time I truly disliked his work. 

Visually, the movie looks impressive. There are some really neat shots in the film, and it uproots familiar settings by giving them a dramatic facelift. That being said, there's no reason why Transcendence needed to be shot in IMAX. I saw it in that format, and cannot possibly justify spending the extra money to see it on a larger screen. 

Transcendence looks like a Christopher Nolan movie, with the same devotion and care to visual splendor. But for several reasons, it doesn't feel like one. Nothing against Wally Pfister, he's a brilliant cinematographer, but he still has a lot of kinks to work out if he wants to direct again. He needs a real screenwriter, who can take a story that has a lot of potential and turn it into a workable sci-fi thriller. The concept is here, but this seems like everyone involved in the film's first time working on a movie set. The high caliber actors and producers Nolan and Emma Thomas are just playing along in the sandbox like watchful parents. 

Transcendence should have been a lot more, and I do understand that this was a first-time attempt by Wally Pfister. I hope he does more cinematography work, as he is immensely talented in that field and is becoming a huge driving force in increasing the recognition of DP's. But for this particular project, it just doesn't transcend high expectations. 

Two out of five stars.