REVIEW: Transcendence

2/10 - I wrote this rating line before I even saw the film.

This film is evidence that Johnny Depp only stars in incredibly bad movies. Exponentially bad. On this rate he'll star in the next Transformers.

There's some irony in that, too. It's genuinely difficult to relate to Depp's character. Depp himself is so frequently real-life cartoon characters that it's difficult to see him as anything else.

After about 20 minutes of Transcendence I've realized that I don't care about Johnny Depp or his wife. They're boring and incredibly uninteresting. I have no idea what the stakes were supposed to be but they're not compelling. By 40 minutes in I decided Tron with it's hockey helmet costumes was more realistic.

I can't quite decide where the failure was, but there is a total collapse in communicating the narrative of the film. Within the first few minutes a terrorist attack happens in our heroes laboratory! This brilliant scientist is dying! There's a last minute effort to scan his brain, but will it work?! All these are exciting monumental events that should make for a great film. Instead it comes across as blase. The most exciting events were shot in the most mundane, boring way possible.

Perhaps it's the heavy handed cerebral concepts that cause Transcendence to backfire. Even if you buy into the premises, it's somehow too premise heavy. The audience gets hit over the head with warnings of the dangers of advancing technology. Even it's own internal logic is a stretch. Characters and consequences falls by the wayside to the need to illustrate minor details. There's nothing that engages the audience whatsoever.

For example, there's a scene where FBI agent Morgan Freeman approaches Evelyn who was just ripped away from her home. He says "I know you're angry, Evelyn." She replies with a rational conversation. She doesn't act angry or say anything an angry person would say. I'm not entirely sure either one of those characters had any attributes of being human. I can't name a single character trait of any character in the film. They just do things.

Transcendence is a thought experiment of impulses without ever telling a story worth telling. Neither the characters nor the concept are ever explained clearly. Instead of eliciting questions about the ethics of technology and it's role in manipulating humanity, I'm questioning how this film fell flat on it's face. It's an emotionless movie that mistakes a challenging concept with challenging the audience.


IMDb - Transcendence (6.4)
Wikipedia - Transcendence
Rotten Tomatoes - Transcendence (19%)
Amazon - Transcendence

REVIEW: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

8/10 - The polar opposite of Iron Man 3

Back in 2011 when Captain America: The First Avenger came out, I had some mighty expectations for the Marvel franchise. Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk were great. Loved both, as everyone did. Iron Man 2 was a bit wack-a-doodle. Thor was never going to be my cup of tea, and it turned out to be a snoozefest. They cast one beast of a man to stare at during those long boring Asgard scenes, so I forgave them.

Captain America represented something different. It had the potential to do what Incredible Hulk did, tell a more grounded story. They both have similar backgrounds, having been experimented on for the military, being isolated and unable to exist in society. Taking the super out of the hero might be benefitial to the franchise.

Sadly, Captain America: The First Avenger was as unwatchable as an action movie can get. It was long and boring, with poor character development, stiff dialogue, endless sequences and storylines that seemed to go no where. It felt as corporate as a movie can get. It was the idea of a movie that had no soul or purpose.

Before I even saw a trailer, I judged The Winter Soldier as being the same. The biggest cliche in the superhero universe is to face off against an enemy who is an evil version of the hero. Hulk fought evil Hulk. Thor fought his brother. Wolverine fights evil wolverine every few years. Iron Man fought other iron men in three different movies now. Captain America actually broke from that mold in battling Hydra and it was a huge flop for me. The Winter Soldier would clearly be an evil Captain America and I would be asleep.

I'm glad I revisited and gave The Winter Soldier a chance. Yes, The Winter Soldier is an evil Captain America. No surprise there. What did surprise me was how great of a movie this turned out to be.

The fresh blood of the Russo Brothers without question revitalized this franchise. The cinematography is some of the best in the franchise, with clean and simple setups for scenes that still look quite "comic book" iconic. There is somewhat of a Bourne Identity quality to parts of the film, with handheld camera shots and realistic sets. They don't fear staring an action sequence in the eye, allowing the audience to follow the fights. They also don't fear the dialogue heavy exposition scenes, a frequent failing of Marvels. Instead of presenting dumb, condescending dialogue for the sake of moving along the story, characters actually represent their own point of view. Interpersonal conflict doesn't solely exist with gun fights.

There is some fantastic chemistry within the film between Chis Evans and Scarlett Johansson. By that I don't mean romantic chemistry, I mean they show mutual respect for one another and illustrate their history on the battlefield. I have a tremendous appreciation for a film that supports a male hero with a female who doesn't turn out to be a love interest. I don't think I can express that enough. They built a relationship on trust and it wasn't remotely sexualized. That's not to say there isn't a love interest, but all the women in this film are able to stand on their own accomplishments. Agent 13 is introduced and even though her role is small, she packs a punch. Cobie Smulders returns as Maria Hill and once again stands her ground as being one of the best supporting characters, seemingly replacing Agent Coulson for awesomeness. Peggy Carter is also revisited, as Steve Roger laments her loss. She never was, and never will be a damsel in distress, a love interest more than capable of fighting her own battles.

Sure, there are plenty of cliches and logical fallacies. There's a heavy handed theme regarding drone killings, something one would think should be tackled under the Iron Man titles, but hasn't been. There are some sluggish moments, usually involving sentimental flashbacks, but every superhero needs to be grounded at some point. There are problems, but not like the page 1 rewrite the first movie needed.

This is one of the best Marvel movies to date, in my opinion. It successfully navigates a multitude of storylines because of the great cast of characters it follows. It doesn't even feel like it should have been titled The Winter Soldier. The story felt complex and important, unlike the MacGuffin universe Thor lives in. The direction and editing were a massive improvement. I think their biggest success was sustaining and surprising an audience after cranking out a Marvel movie ever 20 minutes. Captain America: The Winter Soldier felt like more than just a fun adventure, it had a theme and purpose. It actually feels like it stands on it's own, outside of the Marvel universe.

IMDb - Captain America: The Winter Soldier (8.2)
Wikipedia - Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Rotten Tomatoes - Captain America: The Winter Soldier (89%)
Amazon - Captain America: The Winter Soldier