Transcendence Review: 10 Reasons It Sucks

6. It Fudges The Conclusion

Even a bad film can be saved if it has an interesting enough conclusion, giving the audience something to think about on its way home from the cinema. Sadly, and as alluded to in the previous point, Transcendence drops this ball too. When we pile into the finale, we're of the opinion that A.I Craster has gone nuts, and is attempting to 'improve' things in such a way that will eradicated what it means to be human. To be fair, the film's been fairly explicit about this, showing him operating an army of drones that do everything from build his solar field to pour his wife wine. It's terrifying, and you think €“ with some justification €“ that the film's going down the computers-gone-wild route. That's fine €“ it's familiar narrative stomping ground, but at least it sets up all the pieces on the board for the showdown. However, the film simply doesn't stick to its guns and instead tries to be all things to all comers, blindsiding you with the reveal that cyber-Caster (who's now in his own organic body, also a rushed story beat that should've been explored further) never intended to kill anyone, and will gladly destroy himself to save a mortally-wounded Evelyn and stop Paul Bettany getting shot by Kate Mara. It's a volte-face of baffling proportions, and a weird attempt at a twist that couldn't have been fudged any worse if it tried. You'd probably respect the film more if it took a side, but now you're left scratching your head at this hash of a rug-pull. There's no room for interpretation, and nothing really to take away except that both sides of the conflict had valid points, but flaws as well. We knew this going in, and now we're back at square one, with the film having sort of circumvented it's own plot in the most bizarre fashion.