Some movies I see, just because there aren't others out. ‘Ex Machina' is a small indie film that is in limited release, so I thought I would give it a try. Fantastic! So glad I did. This is a very low key film that takes its’ time evolving, yet I was riveted from start to finish. These are the type of surprises at the movies that makes me enjoy going so much. My thanks to Alex Garland, the Writer and Director, for creating this piece of Science Fiction that doesn’t feel like a Science Fiction movie. It’s more a study of what it means to be human and the consequences of both mankind’s genius and hubris. For years, great minds from Stephen Hawkings to Bill Gates to Elon Musk have warned that the greatest threat to the survival of mankind is not nuclear war or religious fanaticism, rather it is the rise of Artificial Intelligence. We are within a generation of creating computers so advanced that they will replace humans as the dominant intelligent lifeforms on the planet. It’s a familiar concept in recent years, but Ex Machina is one of the freshest and most intelligent explorations of this topic in recent memory
Domhnall Gleeson plays Caleb, a young programmer for the world’s largest internet company, who wins a company contest to spend a week with the company’s reclusive founder, Nathan (played exceptionally by Oscar Issac) . Caleb is flown to a remote lush wooded area nestled in the arctic where Nathan lives alone with his work. Caleb discovers that the true purpose of his visit was to be part of an experiment to test Nathan’s latest creation; an Artificial Intelligence device placed into a seductive robot body named Ava. This sounds like it could be a lame sexploitation plot along the lines of ‘Barbarella’, but it is quite the opposite. This is an in depth look at the nature of consciousness and what it means to be sentient.
Nathan explains that he wants Caleb to conduct the ‘Turing Test’ (based on the works of famed Allan Turing) with Ava. Basically, the ultimate test to determine if an A.I. construct is indistinguishable from being human or merely a series of programmed responses. When does the complexity of responses achieve a level that is completely human and where in that process is consciousness achieved in the construct? When does an artificial construct become sentient. Nathan respects Caleb’s opinion (for hidden reasons revealed later on) and sets up a series of interactive sessions between Ava and Caleb which he closely monitors. The special effects in this film are few, but the robot body of Ava is one and it’s breathtaking. Not for it’s sexuality (which it has), but for the flawlessness of the robot illusion. She truly is like a Macbook come to life and one that you are instantly attracted to.
Despite the state-of-the-art facility Nathan has constructed, frequent power outages occur where all systems go down. When this happens during Caleb and Ava’s sessions, the banter turns from flirtatious to ominous. Ava warns that Nathan is not to be trusted and he is not being truthful with Caleb. When the power comes back on Ava returns to her previous flirtatious self.
Despite the warnings and distrust Caleb develops for Nathan, he is also drawn in by Nathan’s megalomania and mind stretching conversations. Both agree that Artificial Intelligence is a freight train that cannot be stopped. Humans are planting the seeds for their own extinction as their creations are becoming greater and more intelligent than themselves. It’s not a matter of if rather a matter of when A.I. will exceed humans in capacity. It can’t be stopped. Caleb becomes torn between his loyalty to his employer and idol, Nathan, and to Ava, for whom he has begun to develop feelings, attraction, and sympathy for her plight of feeling prisoner. He knows he can trust neither of them or even his own feelings to guide him as he finds himself in the middle of a power struggle between creator and construct.
There are so many things I love about this movie I don’t know where to begin. This is an intellectual, intimate, and low key exploration of the topic, but the Director is able to achieve a level of tension and suspense that keeps the audience riveted to the point of exhaustion. The achievement of Ava as a sexual and intellectual construct without going over the top is an achievement in itself. The film achieves the perfect balance so that the audience does not lose its’ suspension of disbelief. I thoroughly enjoyed this film and was completely taken in by the storyline and interaction. High marks.
I give this film *** 1/2 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment