By Daniel Cohen, Santa Monica Reporter
Robots have always been prominent in filmed science fiction; from Maria in Fritz Lang’s 1926 silent, “Metropolis,” to Robbie, (the Robot) in “Forbidden Planet” to Hal in Kubrick’s “2001, A Space Odyssey” to the gun slinging robot in Michael Crichton’s “Westworld.” And now, as artificial intelligence expands to include robots with the ability to outwit their human creators, comes the inspired and witty “Ex Machina.” Written and directed by Alex Gardner, who penned the successful horror film “28 Days Later,” and “Never Let Me Go,” a drama about humans that are harvested for organ replacement, this modestly budgeted sci-fi features the most seductive humanoid in recent memory.
A reclusive billionaire, (Oscar Issac, as a sort of Steve Jobs,) recruits his most talented programmer, (Domhall Gleeson) to see if his latest creation, a sexy female robot named Ava, can think and respond with genuine consciousness. Ava, who has been endowed with a database borrowed from a billion cell phones, quickly intrigues the nerdy tech with an incongruous blend of mental agility and naiveté. But she also has a strong sense of her gender and a surprising instinct for seduction. And though Caleb, her interrogator, believes he’s been selected to test Ava’s acumen, he’s actually there to engage her and her creator in a psychological ménage a trois, and maybe more than that.
Ava, the serenely beautiful Swede, Alicia Vikander, arrives sporting a drop dead face and a metallic, bee-like abdomen reminiscent of Maria from “Metropolis.” On some level Caleb seems like the perfect match for her, if that is indeed what her inventor, has in mind. But the movie is just as invested in the relationship between Nathan– a not too distant relation to Baron Von Frankenstein–and Caleb, who may be the real subject of the experiment. The dialogue between the two men, which dominates the first two thirds of the movie, crackles with dark wit.
The doe-eyed Ava is intriguing not so much as a character but for the mixed messages manifest in her appearance. Gentle curves and unblemished skin alternate with steel mesh panels and limbs studded with wire and diodes. While she moves with the grace of a dancer she can unexpectedly emit a machine like hum or whir. She’s alluring and off putting in equal measure. Without giving too much of the plot away, it’s safe to say that she projects the conflicted motives of her creator, which gives rise to larger questions about Nathan’s true intentions.
As tension builds between Caleb and Nathan, Ava expresses her longing for the world outside the lab, the need to be regarded as a woman, and, in moments when Nathan is out of touch, the fear that he intends to “turn her off,” and cut her life short. There’s an additional kink in all of this; while Nathan boasts of Ava’s ability to respond to sexual advances, she doesn’t seem to be equipped for actual sex. But do her desires transcend her circuitry? Can she out think the only two men she’s ever met? All questions are answered in due time.
Garland’s direction is as sleek as his script. It’s clear that he’s thought the action through from all three character’s points of view. Instead of pressing too hard on the mad scientist angle, he’s made Nathan a bullying drunk. Caleb is as vulnerable as he is intelligent. Most of the action takes place within the stark contours of a compound located in the far reaches of Alaska, but the movie never feels claustrophobic, or that it was contrived for a modest budget. Credit that, at least in part, to Mark Digby’s resourceful production design. Digby designed “28 Days Later,” and “Dredd.” Here’s he creates a cool but sustained mood of mystery.
Most sci-fi devotees will anticipate several reveals that occur in the last act, and I doubt that there’s anything in the movie’s conceptual scheme that we haven’t seen before. In retrospect I wish that “Ex Machina” was more fun because when all is said and done the script is little more than skin deep. The answer to the movie’s main question; is Ava more than the sum of her parts, is answered with a black and white exclamation point that ends the movie but adds little to the issues it raises. Still it’s a trim exercise in suspense. Give it a B plus for sexy and inspired mayhem.
While We’re Young
This latest from Noah Baumbach, the writer/director of “Frances Ha,” and “Greenberg,” among other indie dramedies, shows great promise as it begins. Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts, playing a married couple in their forties, meet and become infatuated with Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried, playing a married couple in their twenties. The older two are immediately taken with the spontaneity and high spirits of their younger counterparts, which leads to a series of sharp comic moments. The dialogue early on is swift and pointed and holds out the promise of great fun.
But contrived plot turns soon take the place of inspired character development, which leads to the kind of awkwardness typical of second rate TV shows. Soon both couples are strait jacketed to action and dialogue that forces them into head scratching, behavior that’s more confounding than engaging.
I’m not much a fan of the writer/director, but I was sad to see him flush a situation with so much potential down the drain. Apparently his need to wrangle good characters into half bake ideas about youth and corruption got the better of his instinct for comedy. The result is an unfunny mess.
