A.I. Artificial Intelligence. I think we can all agree after seeing all the movies about machines turning against humanity that we will eventually build our own destruction. But yet, scientist and inventors are still looking at ways to make machines that think for themselves. However, if a robot can be more human, it may not be such a good thing.
In Ex Machina Domhnall Gleeson plays Caleb, a computer coder who works for the world's biggest search engine; Blue Book. Caleb is randomly selected to take part in a project that the Blue Book founder, and billionaire inventor, has been working on; artificial intelligence. Caleb meets every day with a robot named Ava, played by Alicia Vikander, to determine if her creator as truly created A.I. that thinks for itself. But as the days go on Caleb grows fonder of Ava, and begins to suspect that it/she may not be the one who is being tested.
This movie on the surface seems sci-fi. It's about a robot that seems human, but not so deep underneath it all is a really smart psychological thriller. There are only five actors in the whole film, and one of them is the helicopter pilot you see for only a minute. The rest of the time is spent in an isolated house with the other characters interacting with each. With a film about creating consciousness you have to assume going it that it will go into theories about what is actual free will, and how the human brain really functions and makes decisions. So again, while this film is about a robot, I didn't walk out thinking I just saw a science fiction movie.
This is actually Alex Garland's first directing job, but he's been working for years as a writer and producer on some films I've enjoyed like Dredd, Sunshine, and The Beach. Yes, I enjoyed the Leonardo Dicaprio film that everyone else craps on. Garland is also rumored to be writing and directing the Halo film, but given how many names have been attached to Halo over the years I won't hold my breath on that one.
With such a small cast their interactions with each other are probably the most crucial part in the movie. Gleeson and Vikander have a nice rapport, but it's Gleeson and Oscar Isaac who really sell it. As the film goes on the tension between the two builds and follows them all the way to the climax. I'm interested to see if the two actors will be in more scenes together in the upcoming Star Wars film, and also interested to see if Vinkander lands bigger roles now since she was so good in this film.
A part of me feels like I want to see a sequel to this film, but I throughly enjoyed the ending of the it, so I'm not sure if I would want to take the chance of ruining this small, personal, sci-fi thriller. It's not a big, epic, action movie with man fighting machines, but a real look at human psychosis. I'm not sure if some of the technology that goes into making Ava has a sense of reality (but this is fantasy movie), and I would really not recommend this film for everyone, but I enjoyed it enough to wonder what everyone involved in this film will do next in their career.
RATING: B
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