Ex Machina (2015)

Content by Tony Macklin. Originally published on May 2, 2015 @ tonymacklin.net.

Ex Machina is a shaggy dog's tale of Artificial Intelligence. Rather than deus ex machina, it's canis ex machina.

One of the trio of main characters - Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac) - likes to think of himself as a god. But he's more a bulldog - a buffed, bald, clunky bulldog.

Nathan is CEO of a successful tech company, and lives in near-isolation in a fancy, wired compound in the wilderness. There he is experimenting, trying to master creating a female robot with artificial intelligence.

Nathan's most promising creation is Ava (Alicia Vikander), and he needs her capacities tested. How human is she?

Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) - a 26-year-old computer coder at Nathan's company - wins a "lottery" to join Nathan at his distant, remote site. Caleb leaps at the chance.

When he arrives by helicopter at the compound, Caleb enters with a keycard and meets Nathan, who is in the midst of working out with a punching bag.

The only other sentient beings who are there besides Nathan are Ava and an Asian female lackey Kyoko (Sonoya Mizuno), whom Nathan treats with harsh dismissiveness.

Nathan assigns Caleb to assess the human consciousness in Ava. How much humanness does it/she have? Caleb is the human component in a Turing Test to find out the extent and quality of the machine's intelligence.

As Caleb interviews Ava, he is more and more drawn to her. He wants to protect her. He winds up bedazzled.

Of course, all is not what it seems. But we knew that.

Ex Machina is writer Alex Garland's directorial debut. It's lumbering shtick with a slick veneer. Like 5'9" Oscar Isaac, it seems like a short film that has been buffed up.

Garland believes in keeping his soundtrack busy, and boy is it ever. The aural design by Glenn Freemantle and the music by Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury do not allow for silence. Sound is constant and relentless - pulses, beats, echoes, hums, jangles. Garland cavalierly throttles silence with noise.

The sound tries to bicycle pump up the dread and anxiety. Silence can do that, but not in this film.

Garland's script has some surprises, but the ending is convoluted.

Garland is fortunate in his gifted cast.

Domhnall Gleeson has made a career out of being the poster boy for vulnerable decency. He brings a likable, guarded openness to Caleb. [Of course, Cabel is a piquant combination of a bit of Cain and a lot of Abel.]

Oscar Isaac is formidable as the eccentric Nathan. I've been a fan of him since he was blown to smithereens in The Bourne Legacy (2012). But exercise does not necessarily enhance acting. Swedish actress Alicia Vikander brings an attractive, deceptive simplicity to Ava.

Ex Machina will work best for those who are intrigued by the mere thought of artificial intelligence. And, that's a multitude.

I'm not one of them.

I'm not one of the many viewers who are smitten by artificial intelligence. I didn't fall in love with Her (2013). Or Sarah Palin.

I've been surrounded by artificial intelligence all my life.

Ex Machina is bliss.

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