The boundaries of technology ...
Have you ever seen your face? Not in a mirror, but with your own eyes? You may have seen other parts of your body, but never your face. When you think about it, there are so many things that are not humanly possible. That is why we need machines. Simply put, technology should aid in human development. But as any other thing, if technology is misused, it becomes a curse. The collective effort of mankind may never be able to find ideal solutions to technological challenges,
as done by a state of the art A.I Quantum computer. This sets the stage for Artificial intelligence.
Transcendence (2014) is a scifi flick directed by cinematographer Wally Pfister in his directorial debut, and written by Jack Paglen. The star cast in the movie boasts of several academy accolades. The cast includes Johnny Depp, Rebecca hall, Morgan Freeman, and Paul Bettany.Will Caster played by Johnny Depp is a pioneer in A.I solutions, working with his wife Evelyn Caster, played by Rebecca Hall, and his colleagues in career choice Joseph Tagger (Morgan
Freeman) and Max Waters (Paul Bettany).They are dedicated in their work and are actively involved in helping both the government and scientific community, with no financial motives. But as it happens with any enthusiastic scientist such as A.I, Will’s colleague, Dr. Thomas Casey(Xander Berkeley) experiments and successfully uploads the conscience of a Rhesus monkey to a quantum computer. This becomes the breakthrough in the problem of self awareness. Agitated
by the ethical grounds of these experiments, Thomas’s former intern Bree (Kate Marra) becomes rebellious and plans to assassinate everyone, and succeeds in doing away with Thomas and terminally wound Will. In her desperation, Evelyn uses the same plan to upload her husband’s conscience to a computer before he dies.
Once Will comes online, Max becomes suspicious of the true identity of the online entity and gets himself caught by the rebels who convince him of the dangers. Meanwhile, Will “the online entity” and Evelyn set shop in a remote town and goes about making the world a better place. The rebels and Max track them down and informs Taggert and the FBI. What ensues is the war between The Online entity of Will Caster and the team of Rebels and Government with Evelyn and her friends caught in between.
Transcendence is not the first film to deal with the theme of Machine vs
Humans (Terminator series, Stealth, I,Robot). However, it would be the first in its kind to present the audience with techogasms and lead them through the moments of intimacy between Evelyn and her online A.I husband. So Is the A.I the conscience of Will? Or is it the sinister war machine as feared? Watch this movie for the sci element or the drama within; it’s sure to satisfy the viewer.
The Audience gets to see a more human looking character of Johnny Depp without his insane makeovers as outoftheworld character. Rebecca Hall also maintains her aura and delivers a stunning performance with Morgan Freeman and others. There is room for improvement in storytelling but can be overlooked for the debutant director. Scientific accuracy of the movie is debatable but I find it pretty accurate.Overall, a 6/10 rating can be given for this movie.
