Plot Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) is a scientist motivated by curiosity about the nature of the universe, part of a team working to create a sentient computer. He predicts that such a computer will create a technological singularity, where everything will change, an event which Will calls Transcendence. His wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall), who he loves deeply, supports him in his efforts. However, a gang of luddite terrorists shoot Will with a bullet laced with radioactive materials which will quickly kill him. In desperation, Evelyn comes up with a plan to upload Wills consciousness into the quantum computer that the project is working on. His best friend Max Waters (Paul Bettany), also a researcher, questions the wisdom of this choice. Wills likeness survives his bodys death and requests that he be connected to the Internet so as to grow in capability and knowledge. Max panics, insisting that the computer intelligence is not Will. Evelyn forcibly ejects Max from the building and connects the computer intelligence to the Internet. Max is almost immediately confronted by Bree (Kate Mara), the leader of Revolutionary Independence From Technology (R.I.F.T.), the extremist group which carried out the terror attacks on the AI scientists and laboratories. Max is captured by the terrorists and eventually persuaded to join them. The government is also deeply suspicious of what Wills uploaded person will do, and plan to use the terrorists to take the blame for the governments actions to stop Will. Will uses his new-found intelligence to build a technological utopia in a remote desert town called Brightwood, but even Evelyn, who joins him there, begins to suspect his motives. FBI agent Donald Buchanan (Cillian Murphy), with the help of a government scientist Joseph Tagger (Morgan Freeman), prepare to stop the technological singularity from spreading. Eventually all of the characters, Bree, Max, Tagger, Evelyn, and even Will Caster himself, are forced to choose between the destruction of all advanced technology, and a return to a pre-technological world, and acceptance of transcendence, and with it an end to pollution, disease, and human mortality. When Evelyn goes back to the research center, she is taken aback as Will - now in an organic body identical to his old one - is welcoming her; however, Will instantly realizes that she intends to destroy him, prompting the FBI and the activists of R.I.F.T. to start attacking the base with mortars. Evelyn tells Will that he could protect her by uploading her, but Will refuses at first. When a mortar fatally injures Evelyn, Will takes her inside while he commands the hybrids to defend them. Bree takes Max hostage, threatening to kill him if Will does not upload the virus and destroy himself - and Will accedes to her demands. Will, as hes dying, explains to Evelyn that he truly is Will, saying he did what he did for her; saving the planet was her wish, to learn the secrets of the universe was his. Then, the virus kills both Will and Evelyn, and a global technology collapse and blackout ensues. Three years later, at Will and Evelyns garden outside their old home in Berkeley, Max notices that their sunflowers are the only living thing in it. Upon closer examination, he notices that a drop of water falling from a sunflower petal into a puddle, which is polluted with oil, almost instantly cleanses it - and realizes that the copper Faraday cage Will installed to protect the garden from cell phone transmissions has also protected a sample of Wills nano-particles. Max infers that Will and Evelyns consciousnesses are still alive within the active nano-particles, giving the world a second chance at Transcendence. Cast Johnny Depp as Dr. Will Caster, an artificial intelligence researcher. Morgan Freeman as Joseph Tagger, an FBI agent.[4] Rebecca Hall as Evelyn Caster, Wills wife and a fellow academic.[5] Kate Mara as Bree, the leader of Revolutionary Independence From Technology (R.I.F.T.)[4] Cillian Murphy as Donald Buchanan, an FBI agent.[6] Cole Hauser as Colonel Stevens, a military officer.[7] Paul Bettany as Max Waters, Wills best friend.[4] Clifton Collins, Jr. as Martin[8] Cory Hardrict as Joel Edmund, a member of the R.I.F.T. Unit.[6] Production Development Transcendence is directed by cinematographer Wally Pfister in his directorial debut. Jack Paglen wrote the initial screenplay for Pfister to direct,[nb 1] and producer Annie Marter pitched the film to Straight Up Films.[10] The pitch was sold to Straight Up. By March 2012, Alcon Entertainment acquired the project.[11] Alcon financed and produced the film; producers from Straight Up and Alcon joined together for the film. In the following June, director Christopher Nolan, for whom Pfister has worked as cinematographer, and Nolans producing partner Emma Thomas joined the film as executive producers.[10] Financing The Chinese company DMG Entertainment entered a partnership with Alcon Entertainment to finance and produce the film. While DMG contributed Chinese elements to Looper and Iron Man 3, it did not do so for Transcendence.[12] Casting By October 2012, actor Johnny Depp entered negotiations to star in Transcendence.[13] The Hollywood Reporter said Depp would have a mammoth payday with a salary of $20 million versus 15 percent of the films gross. Pfister met with Noomi Rapace for the films female lead role and also met with James McAvoy and Tobey Maguire for the other male lead role. The director offered a supporting role to Christoph Waltz.[14] In March 2013, Rebecca Hall was cast as the female lead.[5] By the following April, actors Paul Bettany, Kate Mara, and Morgan Freeman joined the main cast.[4] Filming Continuing his advocacy for the use of film stock over digital cinematography, Pfister chose to shoot the film in the anamorphic format on 35mm film.[15] The film went through a traditional photochemical finish instead of a digital intermediate.[16] In addition to film, a digital master was completed in 4K resolution, and the film was additionally released in IMAX film format. Transcendence also will get a 3D release in China.[17] Filming officially began in June 2013,[18] and took place over a period of 62 days.[19] Music The musical score for the film composed by Mychael Danna was released on April 15, through WaterTower Music. A CD format of the score was released through Amazon. Theatrical run Transcendence was released in theaters on April 18, 2014. It was originally scheduled for April 25, 2014.[20] Warner Bros. distributed the film in the United States and and will distribute it in United Kindgom. Summit Entertainment (through Lionsgate) is distributing it in other territories, except for China and Germany.[21] DMG Entertainment, who collaborated with Alcon Entertainment to finance and develop Transcendence, will distribute the film in China.[12] The Chinese version includes a 3D and IMAX 3D release, funded by DMG, which is done in post-production.[22] Reception Critical response Transcendence received mostly mixed and negative reviews. Critics found the film to be hampered by poor logic and storytelling.[23][24] The film review aggregator website Metacritic surveyed 45 critics and gave the film an aggregate score of 42 out of 100, which it said indicates mixed or average reviews. Metacritic assessed 27 reviews as mixed, ten as negative, and eight as positive.[25] The similar website Rotten Tomatoes scored the film with 18% based on a survey of 164 reviews assessed as positive or negative, with an average score of 4.6/10. It assessed 134 as negative and 30 as positive.[26] Rotten Tomatoes said of the critics consensus: In his directorial debut, ace cinematographer Wally Pfister remains a distinctive visual stylist, but Transcendences thought-provoking themes exceed the movies narrative grasp.[26] According to The Guardian, the studio inserted into the preview a line not spoken in the film, over the protest of the films director. In the preview we hear Morgan Freeman say It will be the end of mankind as we know it.[27] Box office On the films opening day in 3,455 theaters in North America, it grossed $4,813,369, ranked #4, behind Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Rio 2 and Heaven Is for Real.[28] As of May 03, 2014, Transcendence has grossed an estimated $20,193,210 domestically and $33,100,000 worldwide for a total of $53,293,210.[3]
Posted on: Tue, 06 May 2014 14:55:50 +0000
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