Film Review: Transcendence

Film Review: Transcendence

Transcendence is a 2014 science fiction movie directed by Wally Pfister –first movie as a director−, written by Jack Paglen and starring by  Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Paul Bettany, Kate Mara, Cillian Murphy, Cole Hauser and Morgan Freeman. “Imagine such an entity with a full range of human emotion even self-awareness”, is the phrase that eludes the central concept of the movie the singularity or as the main character of the movie called it: “transcendence”. The movie received bad critics because of lack of logic, actors, etc.  

In his film Transcendence (2014) Wally Pfister explores the singularity. He tells us the story of the scientist Dr. Will Caster -Johnny Depp-, who is trying to develop an artificial intelligence capable to think, feel, learn; a computer capable of transcend. He is helped by Evelyn, his wife -Rebecca Hall- who is also a scientist. While Will is trying to develop the machine, a group of people create an anti-technology terrorist group "Revolutionary Independence from Technology" (R.I.F.T.). They planned simultaneous attacks against technology labs and also against Dr. Will Caster, but is when a doctor gives him a month of life where the movie really begins, because Evelyn in a desperate attempt to keep Will -or a part of him- with her, she tries to put Will's consciousness inside a quantum computer but is it possible? And even if it is possible, what is inside a machine is the real Dr. Will Caster?

Ignore the bad critics the film received, it was an interesting movie to watch because it has not only science fiction it also has romance and even drama because everything Evelyn does is because she loves his husband and she doesn't want lose him. It is true that is an utopia that an artificial intelligence evolve without saw the human race as a threat especially after that everyone saw 'Terminator' and maybe is because of it, that some people accused 'Transcendence' as a lacking of logic film, but to be honest, people can't close to the possibility of develop a machine, a software that can really help us to survive and heal the planet as Evelyn said in the beginning of the movie.

The central ethical question of the movie essentially is related with the singularity. The questions can be if is it possible that a machine has their own consciousness or what are the consequences to create an independent machine capable to evolve and develop for it.