The greatest movie ever!

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

4/10 is the most I can award to this very confused and confusing sci-fi film. I don't believe either Johnny Depp or Morgan Freeman was suited to this picture. The special effects were clever and amusing, though vastly overdone. The ending left too many questions UNanswered. The movie was too long, dragged out. NOT recommended.

Not even Depp can save this script, which is almost completely in the pathetic, mixing some elementary ideas from movies like "Lawnmover Man" (1992) and also a storytelling style from not so well-done movies like "Independence Day" (1996). Unfortunately the storytelling is at par with the latter, full of logical errors, totally overblown exaggerated technical assumptions based on very little if anything, twists that leave the viewer without explanation and plot holes big enough to fly a Boeing 727 trough. It's sad that the makers, when having a chance to address the relevant and very real problems and virtues with AI and Nano Technology, they allow this opportunity to be wasted on a tepid story where alleged highly intelligent people acts more or less like some buffoons. The actors do what's necessary, but not more and in most cases less. Paul Bettany ("Max") does the better job, while Rebecca Hall ("Evelyn") is not convincing at all. Morgan Freeman has a somewhat smaller role as "Joseph Tagger", but there are too many stupid moments to render his interpretation as anything else as ridiculously mediocre considering how good an actor he can be. Probably not his fault. Granted he wasn't the focus here, but nevertheless. Depp also disappoints as "Will Caster" going through the motions, but somehow feeling almost absent on the screen, also when in physical form. One main gripe I have is that Evelyn's behavior as an highly intelligent woman when exposed to the fate of her boyfriend is overshadowed of her alleged love for him, driving her to illogical decisions. This may be acceptable if only her love had been believable. It's not. As it is presented now the audience have to assume this is how she felt, which is never a good sign. Compare this to how the love between "Neo" and "Trinity" in "Matrix Reloaded" is presented and where I think you can feel and more importantly understand their love for each other in the more dramatic moments of that movie. It's more than skin deep, which is not the case in "Transcendence". A big disappointment in short. I wanted to give this a "2", but I add one point for a somewhat poetic attempt of an ending.

Most excellent entertainment allowing one to ponder and appreciate while being entertained. Mild spoiling and perhaps none but I am playing it safe. Depp pulls it off and has a good supporting staff. The premise of the movie: What we have here is break through technology that changes the way people think which changes the way they react. It is as simple as that. That's the premise. Usually, this type of change as depicted in the movie would take place lets say over billions of years. Instead, it is happening within moments and this frightens the people in the movie bringing out their fears and prejudices to the point where they kill, kidnap, maim and take action out of ignorance. What appears to be menacing might not be but how will we know if we don't take chance to find out? That's the gamble. The chance if wrong has consequences and no one knows anymore than that. The movie leads us to faith but from there we learn that faith only works if you believe. It was one of the questions before healing Jesus used to ask..."Do you believe I can heal you'? If you answered yes Lord, it was done to you as you believe. Consequently everyone in his home town who refused to change their beliefs suffered for it. How? No miracles were done for them and to them. We see this premise at work in this movie executed quite well. The ending leaves one to question if mankind is ready for the greatness it was intended to have. Of course it is but not in its current state. We are left to ponder what is and what can be. Now I ask you. What more do you want from a movie? It entertains, makes you think, explores mysteries and leaves you pondering. Well done. Have your favorite snack ready to make it even more enjoyable plus a tasty drink. Get ready to well...transcend

Just as the writers involved with various Star Trek projects did, the writers of this film set out to deliberately manipulate the reaction of the audience to something "beyond" themselves. The writers wanted us to fear the possibility of becoming anything more than the isolated entities our minds are doomed to now remain.With Star Trek, the boogeyman was the Borg and the threat that humanity would cease to have "individuality"; in this film, it is the "transcendent" AI. At least in the instance of the Borg, we were shown that they used violence and force to achieve their loftier goal, just as Communism failed because it tried to use force to achieve something noble. In this movie, there was even less reason to fear the (r)evolution, since no one who becomes part of this collective does so against their free will. Quite to the contrary, it is the "freedom fighters" who resort to brutal violence to achieve their purpose. Only at the very end of the movie are we given even a hint that perhaps that fear was foolish and misplaced.That hint at the end was not enough to make up for the brazen attempt to drag my wife and I down into the muck of our emotions and make us wallow in baseless fear for the second half of the movie. We weren't angry at or afraid of the transcendent AI; we are afraid of small-minded humans who lack capacity to realize that existing in utter isolation is NOT such a wonderful thing, and equally afraid of those, like the writers of this film, who would exploit the small-minded for their own benefit.This film had potential to make people think. Instead the writers pandered to what they knew would resonate and sell, and in the process did their minute part to hold humanity back from its real-life transcendence.