Transcendence really isn't a bad movie. There's an important question Johnny Depp's latest film is asking us about the role of technology in our lives and it gets brownie points for trying. The trouble is the questions the movie seems to ask most loudly are:
"Did Depp really want to do this film?"
"Can Kate Mara not play crazy?"
"Is Morgan Freeman the new Gene Hackman?"
First, Depp. The man rarely does bad movies and this one is hardly a bomb. It's simply that his performance is so flat it makes Edward Scissorhands seem positively Richard-Simmonsesque.
Next, Kate. Kate. Kate. Kate. From American Horror Story to House of Cards, it's hard not to wonder if Mara is being pigeonholed into playing slightly-to-intensely cracked characters with too much eyeliner or she's simply playing herself.
Finally, Morgan. Back in the 1980s and 90s, everywhere you turned there was Gene Hackman playing every man (39 movies in 20 years). Now it seems Freeman fills that void. He's a great actor but one wonders if studios simply hire him to put his name on the marquis and in trailers. Gene Hackman could have played this role.
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