Decent, but full of basic movie clichÃ©s and twists

Rating: 6/10 (25 January 2015)

The movie feels like a educational movie for a film making class 101. From the basic plot twists like:

"He's fired, take him away!" - "No!"

To the quotes that are repeated throughout the film at very predictable and cheesy moments:
1. "Sometimes it is the people who no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine."
2. "Do you know why people like violence? It is because it feels good. Humans find violence deeply satisfying. But remove the satisfaction, and the act becomes... hollow."
The performance of Cumberbatch ranges from alright to very strong at times, but his character seems like a mix of Sherlock and Sheldon Cooper from "The Big Bang Theory", including the same jokes about his social awkwardness. Then the film has 3 plot lines running in parallel with his school years, the world war and the "present" after the world war. The school storyline seems kind of bland and only serves one purpose in the end, which I won't spoil. The performance by the kid is also quite good, I actually liked him even more by Cumberbatch.
So sure, if this is one of your first movies you ever saw as a grown up, it might be a good movie. But, it's surely won't be remembered in 10 years as a performance of a decade or anything. If I wouldn't be familiar with computer science I probably would give this movie a 7, but with the many inaccuracies regarding the technical aspects or the statements they make I can give him only a 6.