Movie Review: Transcendence – Where’s the Humanity?
©2016 Kari Carlisle
Although Transcendence is fun to watch and is mildly thought-provoking, I’m sad to report that the writer killed humanity before Johnny Depp’s Artificial Intelligence had a chance to. I’ll get to that in a minute…
The concept of the movie is eerily real. Though the movie is now a couple of years old, it foretells much of what is really happening now – major players in the development of AI are making huge advances in AI technology, while others are warning of impending doom if we don’t manage the situation (or avoid it altogether). One of the technological advances is the actual measuring and copying of human neural synaptic activity. Absolutely fascinating, but what are the implications?
Okay, so I said something not so nice about the writer. I will say that the dialogue and the acting were fairly believable, and the special effects were pretty cool. The action was paced well, and the plot was interesting. What the movie lacked was humanity itself, the very thing it tried desperately to save.
Humanity was missing from Transcendence on two levels. The first is in the most basic character development. I think the attempt was made, but the characters were terribly flat. I didn’t really care about any of them, and many were so interchangeable, it was a little confusing who was who, and who was on what side. By the time the contractor (did he have a name?) was mortally wounded and “healed” by AI, I couldn’t even remember who he was, and who were those guys who attacked him?
Maybe I place too much blame on the writer here. I don’t know too much about movie-making, so perhaps the director and editors need to share some of this blame. I just did not get a chance to get to know a single one of the characters before all hell breaks loose, and some of them I still am not sure were even integral to the plot.
And don’t get me started on Johnny Depp’s character (what was his name?). He had no detectable personality, before or after he became AI. So how in the world were we supposed to tell if it was still him or not? Where was the affection between him and his wife, Evelyn (hey, I remembered her name!)? There was a bit in the beginning but nothing very convincing.
Meh, just sit back and enjoy the action…
The other level on which Transcendencelacks humanity is in the very concept the movie is based on. It’s so focused on gee, what would happen if we downloaded someone’s consciousness into a computer, it completely misses out on a huge opportunity to explore what makes us human. Sure, they throw in a line or two about being self-aware, but that’s really just scratching the surface. I think someone mentioned the word “soul” once.
What does it mean to be self-aware? In the movie, an AI is asked to prove that it’s self-aware, and it throws the question right back at the human. If the movie is suggesting that this is the measure of humanity, it falls terribly short. The bar is set way too low, because I think animals are self-aware. I think a certain level of intelligence and force of will enter into it, as well as depth of feeling, another thing sorely lacking in this movie. And personally, whether you agree or not, I believe we have a soul and are accountable to a higher power. None of this is so much as touched on in Transcendence.
It feels like the movie is trying to come across as super deep, but by the end, it really just feels like it’s all about the action and special effects. Which are fun, so go ahead and see this one if you haven’t. Just don’t expect any mind-blowing revelations. Or “sexy” Johnny Depp. He’s not in this movie. Depp only plays a face on a screen. Meh.
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www.readmota.com
Although Transcendence is fun to watch and is mildly thought-provoking, I’m sad to report that the writer killed humanity before Johnny Depp’s Artificial Intelligence had a chance to. I’ll get to that in a minute…
The concept of the movie is eerily real. Though the movie is now a couple of years old, it foretells much of what is really happening now – major players in the development of AI are making huge advances in AI technology, while others are warning of impending doom if we don’t manage the situation (or avoid it altogether). One of the technological advances is the actual measuring and copying of human neural synaptic activity. Absolutely fascinating, but what are the implications?
Okay, so I said something not so nice about the writer. I will say that the dialogue and the acting were fairly believable, and the special effects were pretty cool. The action was paced well, and the plot was interesting. What the movie lacked was humanity itself, the very thing it tried desperately to save.
Humanity was missing from Transcendence on two levels. The first is in the most basic character development. I think the attempt was made, but the characters were terribly flat. I didn’t really care about any of them, and many were so interchangeable, it was a little confusing who was who, and who was on what side. By the time the contractor (did he have a name?) was mortally wounded and “healed” by AI, I couldn’t even remember who he was, and who were those guys who attacked him?
Maybe I place too much blame on the writer here. I don’t know too much about movie-making, so perhaps the director and editors need to share some of this blame. I just did not get a chance to get to know a single one of the characters before all hell breaks loose, and some of them I still am not sure were even integral to the plot.
And don’t get me started on Johnny Depp’s character (what was his name?). He had no detectable personality, before or after he became AI. So how in the world were we supposed to tell if it was still him or not? Where was the affection between him and his wife, Evelyn (hey, I remembered her name!)? There was a bit in the beginning but nothing very convincing.
Meh, just sit back and enjoy the action…
The other level on which Transcendencelacks humanity is in the very concept the movie is based on. It’s so focused on gee, what would happen if we downloaded someone’s consciousness into a computer, it completely misses out on a huge opportunity to explore what makes us human. Sure, they throw in a line or two about being self-aware, but that’s really just scratching the surface. I think someone mentioned the word “soul” once.
What does it mean to be self-aware? In the movie, an AI is asked to prove that it’s self-aware, and it throws the question right back at the human. If the movie is suggesting that this is the measure of humanity, it falls terribly short. The bar is set way too low, because I think animals are self-aware. I think a certain level of intelligence and force of will enter into it, as well as depth of feeling, another thing sorely lacking in this movie. And personally, whether you agree or not, I believe we have a soul and are accountable to a higher power. None of this is so much as touched on in Transcendence.
It feels like the movie is trying to come across as super deep, but by the end, it really just feels like it’s all about the action and special effects. Which are fun, so go ahead and see this one if you haven’t. Just don’t expect any mind-blowing revelations. Or “sexy” Johnny Depp. He’s not in this movie. Depp only plays a face on a screen. Meh.
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www.readmota.com
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