Ex Machina, April 2015

Nathan: One day the AIs are going to look back on us the same way we look at fossil

skeletons on the plains of Africa. An upright ape living in dust with crude language and
tools, all set for extinction.

 

It’s difficult to write a review of a movie that has inspired you so much that you feel compelled to entice other people to go see it. You don’t want to say too little, but you don’t want to overstate the brilliance of the movie because folks are folks and they’ll probably be disappointed if you glorify it too much.

 

Ex Machina is at its core a Sci-Fi/Thriller. But it is even so much more than that. It’s an exploration of morality, ethics and human strengths and weaknesses. Yes, there have been many A.I. movies that use Artificial Intelligence as a plot device more than a study of human behavior. But, as I said, this movie goes beyond the basic thriller genre without being a bit preachy or making you feel as if you just stepped into a Philosophy 101class. It is an extremely personal and human exploration of the relationship between humans, a nonhuman/sentient being and, if I dare say the word . . . God.

 

Everything is working for this film. A really intriguing script that gives you just enough info to want to stay and see what’s going to happen next, lots of clever, human dialogue that always has something hidden just under the surface to make seeing this film more than once a pleasure and not a chore, and the acting? Forget about it! The three main actors (Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac) are at the top of the Thespian food chain. Man, they know how to play an action and how to make the words they’re saying sound like music to my over-educated, theatre oriented ears

 

Unfortunately, the grandeur of this little film is being dwarfed by the humongous shadows of this summer’s blockbuster hits: Avengers: Age of Ultron and Mad Max: Fury Road. But if you look for it, you should be able to find it somewhere close to you. And see it? Yes, definitely, you should see this movie!

 

If you have an interest in A.I. movies (and who the heck doesn’t?), you can check out some of my favorites: Gog (1954) Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) Blade Runner (1982) The Matrix (1999)The Thirteent Floor (1999) I, Robot (2004)