As far as preparing yourself for a career as a director goes, sitting under the learning tree of Christopher Nolan is one of the best educations anyone could hope for. However, despite winning one Academy Award from four nominations (all of which came from Nolan collaborations), Wally Pfister was Pfucked when Transcendence turned up dead on arrival.
The plot is the sort of high concept catnip sci-fi diehards love, but the execution was so fatally flawed that any sense of intrigue or interest was stripped away in favor of a crushingly dull and laborious story that isn’t anywhere near as smart, deep, or profound as it either thinks it is, or wants to be.
Johnny Depp’s maverick scientist is pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence, so much so that he’s targeted for assassination. On his deathbed, his wife makes the bold call of uploading his consciousness into an experimental computer system, but the new and not-so-improved Dr. Will Caster isn’t really interested in preserving humanity the way it is.
That’s a hell of a premise, and Depp is merely the tip of the iceberg in terms of star power, with the likes of Rebecca Hall, Morgan Freeman, Paul Bettany, Clifton Collins Jr., Kate Mara, and more all lending support. On paper, that’s a slam dunk, but Transcendence flopped so spectacularly hard with critics and at the box office that Pfister hasn’t directed a film since.
Eight years on from barely cobbling together $100 million from a reported budget of $150 million, and securing a paltry 19 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, Transcendence has at least attempted to regain some level of sentience on streaming. As per FlixPatrol, the infamous and ultimately legendary commercial catastrophe has been rising up the ranks on the iTunes worldwide watch-list, even if cult classic status is out of reach when the end product isn’t good enough to deserve it.