TheIneffable
Joined Jul 2011
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TheIneffable's rating
This concept was done a thousand times more effectively in 1997 when it was called "The Game". Adding in "Hostel" and "Saw" inspired elements does nothing to help this (mostly) bloodless mess.
"Transcendence" is the directorial debut of famed cinematographer Wally Pfister, who has spent the better part of the last fifteen years working alongside Christopher Nolan; without question, one of the greatest directorial minds of his generation. Pfister is responsible for the crisp and stunning visuals in "The Prestige", "Inception", and the entire "Dark Knight" trilogy. Combine this pedigree with a veritable who's-who of Hollywood's elite acting talent, and you've got a recipe that seems to all but guarantee success.
What we have instead is a film that is an early candidate for the biggest disappointment of the year.
The problems with "Transcendence" begin to appear right from the opening frame. It begins with a hackneyed narrative device that manages to simultaneously reveal how the film is going to end while also dampening your expectations for what the next two hours have in store. Unfortunately, things only get worse from there. First time screenwriter Jack Paglen's script does a disservice to everyone involved with this production. Even if we ignore the obvious comparisons to 1992′s "The Lawnmower Man", this film is still riddled with so many atrocious plot holes that I have to wonder if they're not there intentionally, as the story would logically be over in half an hour without them. In fact, as the plot becomes increasingly contrived, viewers can practically see deus ex machina at work as characters behave in increasingly erratic ways and Johnny Depp's transcendent abilities seem to come and go based entirely on convenience. Beyond all of this, the script's sense of pacing can be described as "irrevocably broken" at best; however, watching "Transcendence" with the assumption that some sort of unexplained and unmentioned temporal paradox is taking place might be for the best. Characters' story lines progress at such disparate rates that it often feels as though they're in different films until they eventually intersect. In one instance the converging of two sub plots (combined with a leap forward in time) is mishandled so badly that I was left with the impression that two of the characters had literally not moved from their seats for two years. Problems like this could have been solved with some basic script revisions and visual editing but, alas, the running theme of missed opportunities rears its ugly head yet again here. On some half-a-dozen different occasions, we're treated to absolutely unnecessary scenes (usually no more than ten seconds in length) that seem to be designed simply to spoon-feed the simplest of plot points to the audience, as though Pfister and Palgen believe they need to pander to an audience of imbeciles. Knowing that this screen time is essentially wasted and causes "Transcendence" to suffer elsewhere is incredibly frustrating. Finally, the film's ending – telegraphed from the very beginning – is so muddled and filled with mixed messages that I actually found myself despising the characters that I was apparently meant to be rooting for.
As I mentioned before, "Transcendence" features a bevy of A-list acting talent but, with such a poorly laid foundation, they're left with very little to work with. In the end, they're not so much characters on screen as they are a soothing presence, there to remind us that everything will be OK, and that there are much better films than this, because they've starred in them. Even Pfister's vaunted cinematography is absent, as he hands over those duties to Jess Hall ("Hot Fuzz", "Thirty Minutes or Less") while he takes the directorial reins for the first time — and hopefully the last. Hall's contribution is consistent, and even stunning in a few instances, but it's nowhere near enough to save this picture.
Hopefully "Transcendence" will mark the low point for the blockbusters of 2014. It had the potential for greatness but, instead, became the perfect storm of ineptitude, inadequacy, and missed opportunities. Never has such a talented group of people come together to produce such an absolute heap of garbage. [2/10]
What we have instead is a film that is an early candidate for the biggest disappointment of the year.
The problems with "Transcendence" begin to appear right from the opening frame. It begins with a hackneyed narrative device that manages to simultaneously reveal how the film is going to end while also dampening your expectations for what the next two hours have in store. Unfortunately, things only get worse from there. First time screenwriter Jack Paglen's script does a disservice to everyone involved with this production. Even if we ignore the obvious comparisons to 1992′s "The Lawnmower Man", this film is still riddled with so many atrocious plot holes that I have to wonder if they're not there intentionally, as the story would logically be over in half an hour without them. In fact, as the plot becomes increasingly contrived, viewers can practically see deus ex machina at work as characters behave in increasingly erratic ways and Johnny Depp's transcendent abilities seem to come and go based entirely on convenience. Beyond all of this, the script's sense of pacing can be described as "irrevocably broken" at best; however, watching "Transcendence" with the assumption that some sort of unexplained and unmentioned temporal paradox is taking place might be for the best. Characters' story lines progress at such disparate rates that it often feels as though they're in different films until they eventually intersect. In one instance the converging of two sub plots (combined with a leap forward in time) is mishandled so badly that I was left with the impression that two of the characters had literally not moved from their seats for two years. Problems like this could have been solved with some basic script revisions and visual editing but, alas, the running theme of missed opportunities rears its ugly head yet again here. On some half-a-dozen different occasions, we're treated to absolutely unnecessary scenes (usually no more than ten seconds in length) that seem to be designed simply to spoon-feed the simplest of plot points to the audience, as though Pfister and Palgen believe they need to pander to an audience of imbeciles. Knowing that this screen time is essentially wasted and causes "Transcendence" to suffer elsewhere is incredibly frustrating. Finally, the film's ending – telegraphed from the very beginning – is so muddled and filled with mixed messages that I actually found myself despising the characters that I was apparently meant to be rooting for.
As I mentioned before, "Transcendence" features a bevy of A-list acting talent but, with such a poorly laid foundation, they're left with very little to work with. In the end, they're not so much characters on screen as they are a soothing presence, there to remind us that everything will be OK, and that there are much better films than this, because they've starred in them. Even Pfister's vaunted cinematography is absent, as he hands over those duties to Jess Hall ("Hot Fuzz", "Thirty Minutes or Less") while he takes the directorial reins for the first time — and hopefully the last. Hall's contribution is consistent, and even stunning in a few instances, but it's nowhere near enough to save this picture.
Hopefully "Transcendence" will mark the low point for the blockbusters of 2014. It had the potential for greatness but, instead, became the perfect storm of ineptitude, inadequacy, and missed opportunities. Never has such a talented group of people come together to produce such an absolute heap of garbage. [2/10]
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