SNAPSHOT
“Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) is the foremost researcher in the field of Artificial Intelligence, working to create a sentient machine that combines the collective intelligence of everything ever known with the full range of human emotions. His highly controversial experiments have made him famous, but they have also made him the prime target of anti-technology extremists who will do whatever it takes to stop him. However, in their attempt to destroy Will, they inadvertently become the catalyst for him to succeed—to be a participant in his own transcendence. For his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) and best friend Max Waters (Paul Bettany), both fellow researchers, the question is not if they can…but if they should. Their worst fears are realized as Will’s thirst for knowledge evolves into a seemingly omnipresent quest for power, to what end is unknown. The only thing that is becoming terrifyingly clear is there may be no way to stop him.” (from official synopsis via screenrant.com)
One of my favourite movies from recent years was Christopher Nolan’s mind bendingly trippy movie Inception, an imaginative tale of a group of people who are able to enter into other peoples’ minds and retrieve, plant or remove information at will.
While it became increasingly hard at times to tell which way was up and what was real, the way that the mind was represented as a series of hyper realistic Esher-like images was dazzling, a breathtakingly bold treat for the eyes that married up perfectly with the intelligent, richly detailed narrative.
Now the man who brought the dizzylingly complex and lush world of Inception to life, cinematographer Wally Pfister (who has worked with Christopher Nolan over many years) has come up with his own larger-than-life tale, Transcendance (script by Jake Peglan), which takes place within an Artificial Intelligence seeded with the consciousness of scientist Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp).
Attacked by anti-techonology activists, Dr Walker, a leading advocate for the creation of a singularity or artificial intelligence which will possess the computing power of every person who has ever lived, and will allow humanity to transcend their mortal bodies, is downloaded into his creation, despite the concerns of his wife and fellow scientist Evelyn Walker (Rebecca Hall) and best friend and fellow academic Max Waters (Paul Bettany).
Possessed of a singular desire to acquire knowledge and advance the capabilities of humanity through technology, Dr Walker ends up consumed by what he has become, driven to acquire more and more knowledge and hence power.
Quite where it will stop is anyone’s guess but it promises to be a chilling, emotionally-satsifying and utterly immersive ride, the likes of which we probably haven’t seen since Inception.
Transcendance downloads into your mind on 18 April 2014 in USA and 24 April 2014 in Australia.