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Adam A. Donaldson’s 10 Worst Films Of 2014

Not only in this the time of year where we look back and remember with fondness the best that cinema had to offer, but it’s that time of the year when we also look back with dread to recall the worst. Just as every year has its share of quality flicks, there is an equal and opposite portion of terrible films from 2014 that for one reason or another turned out horribly. It might have been the acting, the directing, the script, the pacing, the special effects, or the source material, but on screen, it all ends up the same: 90 to 120 minutes you’d have much rather spent doing anything else.

Transcendence

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After success with the Dark Knight trilogy and Inception, this filmmaker decided to take a bold venture into the area of smart sci-fi and deliver a movie that would seek to ask big questions without offering easy answers in spite of a Hollywood mentality to play it safe. Obviously, I’m not talking about Christopher Nolan and Interstellar. That film, despite its flaws, is more or less regarded a success. I’m talking about Transcendence, directed by Nolan’s regular cinematographer Wally Pfister.

Transcendence wants to be a high-minded techno-thriller that tests expectations and assumptions about technological progress and the creation of artificial intelligence. Really though, it harkens back to the 90s ideals that the internet is magic and hackers are wizards. The only difference between Transcendence and Harry Potter is that there’s a logic to the Boy Wizard.

The thing is, there’s an interesting and thought-provoking movie that can be made about “the singularity,” the theoretical point at which artificial intelligence can supplant humans as the driving force in technological development. When that happens, do humans accept being organic drones in a computer driven utopia, or do we unplug and stop relying on technology? It’s a compelling question that’s thoroughly treated in an amateur action movie way with explosions, gun play, terrorists with good intentions, extremely vague motivations and a lot of technobabble. A great cast including Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Paul Bettany, Cillian Murphy and Morgan Freeman is wasted in every sense of the word, with Depp in particular, away from his bizarre costumes and make-up appliances, appearing as if he’s sleepwalking through the affair.

There’s a severe drought in quality, well-produced, complex science fiction in movie theaters. Unfortunately, Transcendence didn’t, ahem, transcend the typical trappings of Hollywood’s schlock-buster leanings.