When I first heard about this film, I was excited. It was about the merging of AI with human consciousness, a technological singularity, it was directed by the visual director of Inception, and it was based on a screenplay on the Black List, a list of interesting but unproduced screenplays that used to include Slumdog Millionaire and American Hustle. Unfortunately, the final product falls a little short of the target. Why?
The film tends to get lost in the milieu of great visuals, losing its storytelling energy in the process. It's a fun ride, and a technically sound one, but in the end the film seems like a series of checkpoints that serves to drive the story forward, and we are not left to linger on any one moment. The ultimate product fThe romance is at least believable but could be tenuous for some, and that seems to be the problem, as it is the center of the movie.
The film asks us if consciousness in digital form can really replace the real thing. The ending is quite simple, but can be interpreted in different ways. I wish the film had centered more on the moral implications of heading towards a technological singularity. For the record, I was with Johnny Depp's character all the way and was against the 'neo-luddite' terror organization.
It's worth a watch, but it ends up being forgettable. Hopefully, however, we get to see more high concept sci fi in cinema this year (looking forward to that Nolan film around the end of the year.)
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