The film "Excellence": reviews, actors

The extremely ambitious film project "Excellence" is a science fiction film from Warner Bros. Pictures, cost the studio a hundred million dollars, however, the amount spent does not correspond to the broad masses' ideas about Hollywood products. The main lure of the creators was the participation of the favorite of the public, Johnny Depp, but the picture will scare the idle lovers of popcorn, it is intended for an erudite and demanding audience.

A film about the boundary of human evolution

Cinematographs about robots, artificial intelligence, smart supermachines long ago do not lead the audience to a blissful admiration. The film industry has been actively discussing this subject since its inception, the era of silent cinema. And one of the important fresh tapes on this subject is the sentimental drama "She" directed by Spike Jones. But a feature that separates the film "Excellence" from others, critics' reviews called an attempt by creators to expand the boundaries of human evolution. The stories that tell about the ability of the robot to adopt the sensitivity and emotions of homo sapiens, a dime a dozen, and Pfister's brainchild will demonstrate the man's attempt to borrow from his robot (machine) its immortal shell.

Creators

The science fiction film of 2014 was created by the joint efforts of two newcomers and one professional. Script writer Jack Paglen recently vegetated in obscurity and put his written stories away on a shelf. So it could continue indefinitely, perhaps the world would never have learned about the potential of the writer. But the film "Supremacy" reviews his fans have called a springboard in Jack's career. Now he is invited by Ridley Scott himself to work together on the sequel to Prometheus. The project involves another newcomer - a director who for many years was the operator, albeit very successful. Of the eight full-length master Christopher Nolan, seven were shot by him, and for the work on the film "The Beginning", Wally Pfister deservedly received an "Oscar". However, there is nothing odd in his debut, in the intellectual intellectual fantasy thriller that gives off the conceptual coldness, there is a noticeable Nolan mood. It's no secret that the author of The Dark Knight in every possible way patronizes his budding colleague and acts as an executive producer. Soundtracks for the film "Excellence", created by the composer Michael Dunn, well support the atmosphere of the impending apocalypse with almost infrasonic waves.

Plot

The film "Excellence" reviews individual viewers for blaming the lack of innovation in the storyline. The narrative unfolds in the near future, where the life of mankind is inconceivable without technology. The narrator is the neuroscientist Max Waters (performed by Paul Bettany), works in a creative alliance with the brilliant scientist Will Custer (Johnny Depp) and his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall). Caster stands on the threshold of a unique discovery - he managed to create a supercomputer, endowed not only with intellect, but with feelings. Opponents of scientific and technological progress do not believe that the latest developments will go to humanity for good, they sign the death sentence to the professor. At the opening ceremony, one of the activists of the extremist grouping RIFT shoots Custer at point blank range, the bullet is poisoned by polonium. Deprived of its physical shell, the hero of Depp does not die, he moves to cyberspace, thereby trying to open the road to humanity for immortality.

Consequences of resurrection

Resurrects Will, thanks to his distraught wife and colleague Max, in the form of a computer digital image. The digital image of the protagonist first of all requires a connection to the Internet, after which he actively begins to solve the financial problems of his widow, and then proceeds to expansion. And although the deceased spouse does not forget to pay attention to his wife, more and more Evelyn can not get rid of the anxiety that haunts her. It seems to her that digital Will is not her husband, but another personality, or rather, a simulated program. And she, and agents of the government who have learned about the incident are preparing for the worst, and it is not clear who will have the superiority. The film in Russian, thanks to professional dubbing, looks no worse than the original.

The demonic charm of Johnny Depp

The film "Excellence" reviews fans call a unique opportunity to contemplate Johnny Depp in a role unusual for his acting career in the last ten years. Throughout this period, the actor, whose characters in the past had radiated a serious threat or were frank psychos (Dean Corso in The Ninth Gate, Spencer Armacost from The Wife of the Astronaut, William Blake of The Dead Man), openly fooling around and visibly tired of incessant Jack Vorobiev. Quite another matter is "Excellence": the film with Johnny Depp returns the actor to "The Dead Man" and "The Ninth Gate", giving him the long-awaited opportunity to play an inimitable, simply devilish charm. And the secondary task of the actor was the revival of a very strict conceptual design, so that the project did not repeat the sad fate of the "Time Loop".

Selection of "retinue"

"Excellence" is a film, actors-performers of the roles of the second plan in which they can easily be called the "retinue" of Depp. However, their selection took a long time. On the role of the wife of the scientist-genius, it was originally planned to invite Rooney Maru, who, like the ex-Captain Sparrow, charm is perfectly combined with the evoked sense of danger. However, Rebecca Hall, whose charm is more ambivalent, gained a role. Peer-colleague Max could become Toby Maguire and James McEvoy, but they were beaten by the British actor Paul Bettany. Cainian Murphy, Morgan Freeman and Rooney's older sister, Keith Mara, were also able to strengthen the trio of central characters. Thanks to their acting skills and unpredictably lyrical metachhorror of the author's intonation, the film's meaning is much closer to the viewer than in the trilogy about Batman or Nolan's "Beginning". And it was Kate Mara who was able to revive the separate nolanovski dead episodes (sci-fi), make them alive and exciting, and moments - piercing.

Technical part

The virtuality of the main character influences the overall impression of the visual series of the film "Excellence". The film: actors and their roles, special effects and even action scenes - looks at least strange. Since the episodes worthy of the movie masterpiece in the declared format of IMAX, you can literally count on your fingers. Surprisingly, after all, Wally Pfister certainly knows how to build a bright, inimitable visual number. But the beginning filmmaker, most likely, was at a loss and did not calculate his strength when he chose for the film debut too many-sided, controversial and vivid history. On the film "Excellence" reviews come extremely contradictory. Many lookers note that satisfaction after viewing gives way to a regret about the unused, fully unlimited potential of history, about what the creators never managed to achieve. On the other hand, what could be expected from a large-scale studio project. This is not "Admixture" Shane Carrat is a bold film that actively appeals to the intellect of the audience, and without an impressive budget.

Scholastic character

It's clear to the filmmakers that the film's main idea (unsafe innovations of NTP) over the past years has become far from new and played from A to Z. From the cult "Space Odyssey", through the confused 70-80 years ("War Games", "Terminator" "Throne" and others) and dashing 90-s with their horror stories about the "virtual reality" to modern attempts to humanize the problem. Currently, the place of a malicious and dangerous supercomputer occupies a conditional "facebook". In comparison with the picture "She" the film "Excellence" reviews are called the day before yesterday, even in the very formulation of the question. Pfister's films are a formal experiment, perfect, perfect, but, unfortunately, not very touching. Almost like a computer, in this perspective to the viewer - an appropriate and organic combination of content and form.

Meditative fantasy

"Excellence" is an exciting, albeit slightly old-fashioned science fiction film. The director managed to transform the project from a dry scientific and popular treatise into a somewhat imperfect, but surprisingly, meditative fantasy. Pfister's work can not be categorically disliked, and it should not be missed. When the rental is packed with some entertaining films, finding such a film is a rarity. After carefully viewing it, you realize that such a film at the box office initially did not have a single chance.