EX MACHINA (2015) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

EX MACHINA (2015) movie

Genre             |  Science Fiction

Classification   |   MA 15+

Running time   |   108 minutes

Released         |   7 May 2015

cast

Domhnall Gleeson ... Caleb
​Alicia Vikander ... Ava
Oscar Isaac ... Nathan
Sonoya Mizuno ... Kyoko
Corey Johnson ... Jay

director

Alex Garland

writer

​Alex Garland ... (written by)

cinematographer

Rob Hardy

music

Geoff Barrow
Ben Salisbury

film editor

​Mark Day

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box office result

Worldwide             $​​​36,869,414

Australia                 $​​​​544,262

North America       $​25,442,958 ​

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the best dialogue

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.

Nathan: It's funny. You know. No matter how rich you get, shit goes wrong. You can't insulate yourself from it. I used to think it was death and taxes you couldn't avoid, but it's actually death and shit.

Nathan: [drunkenly misquoting Oppenheimer] In battle, in forest, on the precipice of the mountain, on the... the great, dark sea. In the sleep, confusion. In the depths of shame... The good deeds a man has done before defends him. The good deeds a man has done before defends him. The good deeds a man has done before... defends him.

EX MACHINA (2015) MOVIE IMAGES

Images

Posters

Images

Posters

EX MACHINA (2015) STORY SYNOPSIS

​​Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) a programmer at a huge Internet company, wins a contest that enables him to spend a week at the private estate of Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac), his firm's brilliant CEO. When he arrives, Caleb learns that he has been chosen to be the human component in a Turing test to determine the capabilities and consciousness of Ava (Alicia Vikander), a beautiful robot. However, it soon becomes evident that Ava is far more self-aware and deceptive than either man imagined.

EX MACHINA (2015) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 7 May 2015
​Pop Movee Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Some movie-goers will behold Alex Garland’s EX MACHINA as the triumph of beautifully crafted  cinema over popcorn spectacle, while others will come away frustrated with the film’s clichéd themes and an ending that is just too on-the-nose for its own good. Perhaps, this is not a bad thing … All too frequently, film-makers talk about how they are forced to compromise their artistic output to accommodate the commercial needs of the movie business. Garland has made no such concessions with EX MACHINA. His story quite possibly hits a little too close to home, but, in the process, draws the audience into an extremely intimate film that confirms Oscar Isaac as one of film's best emerging talents and actress Alicia Vikander as a genuine acting star of the future.

The film opens with a brief prologue of Domhnall Gleeson’s Caleb winning an intra-company competition to spend a week with Oscar Isaac’s Nathan, a technological wizard whose futuristic search engine has allowed the financial freedom to pursue research into artificial intelligence development. Nathan brings Caleb to his secluded facility in the far reaches of Alaska to show him what he has done and to help bring the final stage of the AI to fruition, introducing Alicia Vikander’s Ava into the story.

Throughout the course of the story, Caleb develops feelings for Ava, as his intellectual curiosity helps him to transcend any preconceived notions he has about relationships and love. Caleb’s increasing desire for Ava is brought into focus by a need to protect her, as it becomes clear that Nathan’s extended isolation at his research facility has led to emotional disconnection from his work. In a moment away from Nathan’s ever-watchful presence, Ava tells Caleb that Nathan cannot be trusted because he lies. This leads Caleb to become increasingly suspicious of Nathan. Caleb makes a grim discovery during the film’s Second Act leaving him in the belief that Nathan has lost all perspective and that he must save Ava before her memories and operating system are erased. In a classic reveal, Caleb realizes that he has become the Igor to Nathan's Victor Frankenstein, must decides he must act in the interests of the creation; not the creator.

Not with-standing its last few minutes, EX MACINA is an incredibly impressive film. It is reminiscent of Danny Boyle’s Sunshine, in that sense. Boyle was never quite able to overcome the “slasher film” let-down of that film’s last 15 minutes, and Alex Garland finds it equally challenging to find out way out of EX MACHINA without manipulating the audience to a point where the viewer becomes conscious of the manipulation. This too is the challenge for the film’s protagonists. At what point does one character start and stop manipulating?

One of EX MACHINA's overwhelming positives is the manner in which Isaac, Gleeson and Vikander breathe life into their characters and make highly intellectualized dialogue come-to-life as it’s natural to talk in the manner they do. Isaac is especially good and his natural charisma should work against type in this role, but instead it enhances his character’s particular genius as it becomes clear very early that Caleb has been invited into a narcissist’s lair. Gleeson too does solid work, but is never quite up to either of his co-stars. Vikander is extremely good and her emotional transformation happens so slowly that, like Caleb, it’s not until the film’s absolute climax that the audience realize what is happening before their eyes. The triumvirate of talent on display is one of the best combinations in a science fiction film for a long time and there's a reason why each one of these actors are part of major upcoming studio releases in 2015.

It’s at this point that Garland should have stopped the story, as the power of the moment is disturbing and thought-provoking. Unfortunately, the film heads into Blade Runner territory with an epilogue that does nothing to make the film any better. The final few moments of EX MACHINA only serve to reinforce sexist stereotypes that men only think with their dicks and women manipulate to get what they want. 

In terms of technique, EX MACHINA is one of the best thought-out films to be released in a long time. Garland and his Cinematographer, Rob Hardy, have very carefully thought through the types of shots that will create the maximum visual impact, but are executed in a very simple, economic way. There’s nothing flashy about the way the camera moves; it’s all very deliberately paced to build tension and an undertone of menace. Dare it be mentioned but there is a suggestion of Stanley Kubrick in the way that Garland captures his images. It will be on interest to see what type of material Garland tackles next and whether he is able to make it come to life as completely as EX MACHINA.

Alex Garland has announced himself as a genuinely talented all-round film-maker, whose career as a Novelist, Screenwriter and – now – Director, make him a very rare commodity in the entertainment industry: a storyteller who can switch between mediums depending on what works best for the audience. Go and see EX MACHINA while it’s in cinemas.

EX MACHINA (2015) USEFUL LINKS

Ex Machina (film) - Wikipedia
​Ex Machina (2014) - IMDb
​Ex Machina (2015) - Rotten Tomatoes

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