Skip to main content

Ex Machina (2014)

Ex Machina is about an inventor who has cracked the Turing test and needs someone else to validate his work and also so he can show off and dance with his fembots.

Alex Garland wrote and directed this film. He's part of the reason I'm reviewing this film. Part because the film is great and part because he's got a new film coming out called Annihilation. Considering this is his first film to ever direct he did phenomenal compared to other's firsts. Cue Emenim's phenomenal song. Before Ex Machina, he wrote 28 Days Later another solid movie and Sunshine which wasn't.

Alicia Vikander plays the main synthetic intelligence who believes that if she fails the Turing test that she will be decommissioned like previous failed attempts by the antagonist. I totally forgot that she wasn't an artificial person and was actually an actress. She's also got an upcoming movie called Tomb Raider coming out soon. Though you might recognize her as the girl from Jason Bourne or The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Star Wars actor Oscar Isaac plays Nathan, a super rich and egotistical genius who creates Ava for funzies. He gets a little ahead of himself and decided to invite Caleb to his remote home so he can see if she'll pass the Turing test. There is a bit of depth to his character that isn't really realized till later in the film and Isaac delivers on his promise. There is hardly any film of his I haven't enjoyed so far. Drive is still one of my all-time favorites.

Star Wars actor Domhnall Gleeson is also in the film as the protagonist and general good guy. He tries his best to do what he thinks is right but everyone else around him seems to be smarter. If only he was as smart as the AI that Nathan had built then maybe this whole debacle would have never happened. Regardless, he does a wonderful job as Caleb and very convincing since he's so pasty.

Result: A (One of the great sci-fi films of this decade, just underneath Blade Runner 2049)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Colony (2026)

Colony is written and directed by Yeon Sang-ho , the director behind the cult classic Train to Busan . While Train to Busan has become the more celebrated film, Colony shows how much Yeon has improved as both a writer and a director. The story is stronger, the filmmaking feels more confident, and the way he builds the world gives the movie more substance than I expected going in. Jun Ji-hyun is the clear standout of the cast. She does a fantastic job conveying emotion through subtle movements and expressions rather than relying on exaggerated acting. That is not surprising considering she is one of South Korea's best actresses, but she still manages to make the character feel grounded and believable. She carries much of the emotional weight of the film. I did not recognize many of the other actors, and unfortunately, none of them really stood out enough to make much of an impression. That is not necessarily a knock against the cast as much as it is a testament to how much Jun ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Verity (2026)

Verity was a surprise for me. Normally, the authors who turn their books into movies that I actually enjoy are Stephen King or Michael Crichton , but Colleen Hoover has been doing surprisingly well with the last four movies adaptations from her work. One thing I appreciate about her writing is that she knows how to write male characters who aren't weak or simply there to be punching bags for feminist talking points. That alone makes the characters feel more believable and gives the story a better balance. Dakota Johnson plays an up and coming writer who is brought in to ghostwrite for Anne Hathaway's character. This is easily Johnson's best performance yet. She does a good job carrying the movie and making the character's uncertainty and curiosity believable as the mystery around the house starts to unfold. Anne Hathaway does not have a huge amount to do because of her character's condition, but whenever she is actually on screen, she brings the energy you wo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Digger (2026)

Digger is directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu and stars Tom Cruise as Digger Rockwell. Much like his name, there is a lot of symbolism and meaning packed into the film, along with plenty of references that brought a smile to my face. I went into this expecting it to be pretentious or outright bad because that was the prevailing opinion online before general audiences had even had a chance to see it. Anyone calling this movie pretentious clearly has not seen The Death of Robin Hood or Die My Love . Die My Love was so pretentious that my wife actually begged me to leave the theater, and I had to finish it another day. Digger , on the other hand, actually understands the difference between being ambitious and simply being self-important. Tom Cruise is great as Digger Rockwell, giving the character exactly the kind of larger-than-life personality the movie needs. There is so much going on beneath the surface that I found myself constantly looking for the symbolism and references hidden...
Post a Comment
Read more