Clearly taking aesthetic cues from The Matrix and The Fifth Estate, the latest trailer for cinephile-celebrated cinematographer Wally Pfister’s directorial debut Transcendence doesn’t offer much in the way of actual footage. At least, I hope not, given that it’s a minute of binary code with a foreboding voiceover from star Johnny Depp, who plays a supercomputer imbued with the personality of a slain scientist, about the impending technological singularity. Granted, it’s a teaser trailer, but still it would have been nice to see something apart from a goofy photo mosaic of Depp’s face. Especially given Pfister’s pedigree as a cinematographer. Alas and alack, that’s a story for another day; for now, bask in the fluorescent green cathode rays of your Transcendence teaser trailer.
Still confused? Here’s the official description:
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.
Those of you who want to read a more spoiler-filled description of the plot can do so over at Uproxx. Or you can be like me and bide your time until its release on April 18, 2014.
What do you think of the Transcendence teaser trailer? Let us know in the comments below.
Bah, old stuff. There are far better singularity novels – Kurzweil’s site has this shocking book on convergence of singularity, AI and transhumanism – The Bequeathal: Godsent. Radical thinking.
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