'Ex Machina' (2015)

“I am God.”

If watching movies has taught me anything in life, it is not to build an intelligent robot that looks like a human. 

It never works. 

If you’ve ever seen ‘Terminator 2: Judgement Day’, 'I-Robot' or '2001: A Space Odyssey' then you’ll know what I mean... Trust me... Just don’t do it.

Young programmer - Caleb, wins a mysterious competition to meet his genius, reclusive company CEO - Nathan and take part in a breakthrough experiment in Artificial Intelligence with a beautiful robot named Ava.

I actually enjoyed ‘Ex Machina’ a hell of a lot. It dives into some immensely philosophical ideas and poses some refreshing questions that you can’t help but run through your mind long after the credits have rolled.

When a film forces you to ponder the meaning of life, you've hit the jackpot.

The film explores the relationship between the three main characters - Caleb (the young programmer) and Nathan (alcoholic/genius/inventor) who has created Ava, the first A.I. ever built.

The experiment is to basically see, after Caleb has been shown that Ava is an A.I., whether or not he believes that she has consciousness, despite knowing she is a robot. 

An interesting concept in itself. 

How can you prove that she does? Does a robot know it’s a robot? How can you test such a theory when you already know that she is a robot?

All of these questions and more are explored in the film and it makes for a really compelling watch. 

Oscar Isaac plays reclusive millionaire genius, Nathan, and he is outstanding. I have only seen him in three films so far but he’s rapidly becoming one of my favourite actor working in film at the moment. He balances the right amount of genius and personality to make him likeable but somewhat untrustworthy and even intimidating. This is an actor who either has a fantastic agent who is getting him some seriously great jobs or he has a keen eye for scripts. 
He is physically large and intimidating to young Caleb who is taking part in the ground breaking experiment and you can feel the tension when they are examining and blurring the line between man and machine. He captures the more primal physical nature of human beings, even with his gorilla like movements and physique, and challenges the more intellectually minded Caleb to dive into a more emotional analysis of Ava than a rational one.

I love the fact that 'Ex Machina' poses the inherent question about building artificial intelligence, it's not how to create an A.I. but should we create one? It doesn’t look at the technical probability but more at the consequences of creating an A.I. and how it could affect the world and future as we know it. 

Doctor Frankenstein and his monster with a modern twist.

It throws out so many ideas and challenges the audience to make up their own minds.

The special effects in the film were outstanding and some of the best robot effects I’ve seen in a film. Swedish actress Alicia Vikander does an excellent job as Ava, you totally forget that she is a real person and gradually accept that she is a robot which is a huge undertaking for any actress. I think the fact that she was a relatively unknown actress helped her in this role as the audience doesn’t have any expectations of the type of role she is going to play or her traits as an actor. She has enough personality that you feel something for this machine, along with Caleb, and begin to question the ethics of it all. Is it right to “unplug" a self aware robot? After all it (or she) is only a machine, right?

With some touching scenes, it’s beautiful to watch her performance evolve as you try and work out if she does in fact have consciousness. The audience are invited to take part in the experiment with Caleb, which is truly absorbing.

I feel like this is the film Stanley Kubrick would have made if he had lived to make 'A.I.' which Spielberg made in 2001 in tribute to him.

There was a surprising amount of tension in the film that I was not expecting. There are layers upon layers of deceptions and emotional conflicts that the audience along with young Caleb have to try and manoeuvre through to get to the truth. Each character in the film has their own agenda and they develop as the plot does.
Combining some clever twists and turns with intelligent ideas and an intriguing plot makes ‘Ex Machina’ an extremely enjoyable watch that will, ultimately, leave you with a lot to think about. 

‘Ex Machina’ is an intelligent, entertaining and thought-provoking journey that allows the audience to see things from a different perspective. It poses some profound questions and ideas such as the meaning and creation of life, the line between man and machine and where our species as a whole is headed. 

I can safely say that I am glad I went to see ‘Ex Machina’ instead of '50 shades of Grey' this weekend.

"There you go again. Mr Quoteable"