Dr. Will Caster isn't the most memorable Johnny Depp character, but that's precisely the reason why he's made it onto this unfortunate list: Caster is so insanely bland, it seems like an insult coming from an actor who prides himself on excessive, animated performances of the grating kind. Seriously, it's almost as if Depp committed this character to the screen in a sleep-induced haze. Transcendence was panned by critics for being generally awful, especially in its plot, which managed to be both head-scratchingly pretentious and super dull. Depp plays Dr. Will Caster, a "brilliant scientist" (the movies are full of those) whose consciousness is uploaded into a computer after he's killed. "Consciousness" isn't a word that you'd associate with Caster, though, nor is it an emotion that you'll experience whilst watching him for the sum of two hours. For all his irksome traits, Depp rarely feels like he's phoning it in, but there's no other way to describe what he offers up here. It's almost as if Transcendence were a mere rehearsal for a play Depp was contractually obliged to appear in.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
