Where did Johnny Depp go wrong?

Where did it all go wrong, Johnny Depp?

His is the opposite of the Matthew McConaughey story: a downward spiral from quirky, unpredictable performances in acclaimed indies to a slew of blah roles in big-budget Hollywood fare. Depp’s latest, sci-fi thriller “Transcendence,” opens Friday, and it marks his career’s ongoing descent. Our Lou Lumenick gives it one star, deeming it “transcendentally boring.”

Is Johnny just in it for the money these days? Surely not; this is a man who owns his own Bahamian island (thanks in large part to one of his few films that was both mainstream and marvelous: “Pirates of the Caribbean”). Did he simply stop caring? Say it ain’t so! Let’s trace the path of Depp’s decline — and hope someone enlists him in the next “True Detective”-type career redemption vehicle that comes along.

’21 Jump Street’ (1987)

Who was that soulful pretty boy playing tortured narc Tom Hanson? Depp came out of nowhere (after being devoured by a bed in a quickie role in 1984’s “A Nightmare on Elm Street”), but quickly garnered a huge following on this seminal Fox drama, which would pave the way for a thousand teen-centric shows to follow.

‘Cry-Baby’ (1990)

Though many expected him to jump at the mainstream film roles being offered thanks to his “Jump Street” success, Depp opted instead to make a splash in this offbeat John Waters film, playing a greaser with a seriously sensitive side.

‘Edward Scissorhands’ (1990)

Depp teamed up for the first of many collaborations with director Tim Burton in this Goth fairy tale; his performance as the sweet, pointy-fingered Edward cemented his status as the decade’s alterna-dreamboat.

‘Arizona Dream’ (1992)

One of Depp’s weirdest-ever roles was in this surrealist Emir Kusturica film, which saw him starring alongside Faye Dunaway and Jerry Lewis as a man who counts fish for a living.

‘Ed Wood’ (1994)

The actor continued to defy any expectations that he’d become a regular old movie star by pairing up with Burton again to play the cross-dressing B-movie director in this underrated black-and-white comedy.

‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ (1998)

Depp befriended gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson in preparation for his portrayal of him in this Terry Gilliam movie, which saw him doing a pitch-perfect impression of the drug-addled author in his most famous story.

‘Before Night Falls’ (2000)

It was a relatively small role, but Depp’s turn as a flamboyant cross-dresser named Bon Bon was one of the highlights of Julian Schnabel’s biopic, which starred Javier Bardem as poet Reinaldo Arenas.

‘Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl’ (2003)

It was the role that took everyone by surprise: eccentric, bohemian Johnny Depp in a Disney movie based on an amusement park ride? The decision seemed antithetical to everything we knew about him, but the joke was on us: His swaggering, Keith Richards-inflected Jack Sparrow was delightful, as was this lighthearted pirate romp.

‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ (2005)

Once more unto the breach with Tim Burton. Depp’s creepy Willy Wonka made us start to feel the partnership had gone stale, with the weirdness turned up so loud, it was difficult to remember there was a classic Roald Dahl story behind it.

‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ parts 2 and 3 (2006, 2007)

Too much of a good thing: These sequels, which failed to live up to the original, cast a serious pall over the mainstreaming of Depp.

‘The Tourist’ (2010)

Depp and Angelina Jolie? Why not? Oh: Because of movies like this — in which the two stars turned out to have no chemistry and apparently failed to read the script — a half-baked thriller that was released to a critical and popular thud.

‘The Lone Ranger’ (2013)

This was the real turning point, the moment Depp’s goofy penchant for overcostuming veered into unintentional caricature — his Tonto was literally wearing a dead bird for a headpiece — and his partnership with Gore Verbinski, who’d done him right in “Pirates” part 1 and in the animated western “Rango,” soured in an overlong, overexpensive and dull disaster of a summer movie.

‘Transcendence’ (2014)

Playing a world-famous artificial intelligence expert who morphs into a humanity-endangering computer entity, Depp plays the role like “Keanu Reeves on Quaaludes,” says Lou Lumenick. Once again, his choice of big-budget fare fell way short of the mark in a sea of clichés and long stretches of nothing much happening. Which, more or less, approximates the last few years of his film work. Here’s hoping for an old-school Depp curveball in 2015, though with “Pirates” and “Alice in Wonderland” sequels in the works, I won’t hold my breath.