It’s always curious when Johnny Depp isn’t a “character.” I mean, he’s ALWAYS a character when he’s not out buying up islands and BEING Johnny Depp: Man About Town; but when he plays just a normal dude in a movie, it’s almost off-putting.

Luckily, director Wally Pfister has him as a creepy doctor in the upcoming sci-fi thriller, Transcendence. Depp’s character is a crazy doctor with a thirst for power, that gets a little out of hand. Judging by the trailer below, we’ll be in for a pretty cool ride to see what happens.

Here’s the official synopsis for Transcendence:

[box_light]Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) is the foremost researcher in the field of Artificial Intelligence, working to create a sentient machine that combines the collective intelligence of everything ever known with the full range of human emotions. His highly controversial experiments have made him famous, but they have also made him the prime target of anti-technology extremists who will do whatever it takes to stop him. However, in their attempt to destroy Will, they inadvertently become the catalyst for him to succeed—to be a participant in his own transcendence. For his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) and best friend Max Waters (Paul Bettany), both fellow researchers, the question is not if they can…but if they should. Their worst fears are realized as Will’s thirst for knowledge evolves into a seemingly omnipresent quest for power, to what end is unknown. The only thing that is becoming terrifyingly clear is there may be no way to stop him.[/box_light]

Transcendence opens on April 17th and stars: Paul BettanyRebecca HallKate MaraCillian MurphyClifton Collins Jr., and Morgan Freeman.

~Chaz

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