Fantastically Phycological and Thought Provoking

Rating: 8/10 (26 November 2016)

I had no idea what to expect walking into this film I couldn't really think of any movie like it and after watching it this was a fantastic film with some excellent views on humanity itself. The whole plot of the Turing Test is the perfect plot device for this film the conversations between Gleeson and Vikander are so good it brings up some really intelligent arguments and views with some unexpectedly frightening and intense moments. For this entire movie you have no clue what to think or who trust, since this is such a claustrophobic movie it makes this film into such an intense experience. Alicia Vikander was so amazing in this movie, she was able to make Ava into a complex character and make her feel like more that just a robot, I haven't yet seen her performance in The Danish Girl but I honestly think that this performance was 100% Oscar Worthy. Oscar Isaac is just unrecognisable in this film, his character is such a strange one you never really know what to think of him but you know that he's impossible to trust. Domhnall Gleeson was good in this movie but I had a few issues with his character that I will expand upon. The special effects for Ava were incredible they look so life like and theirs never a moment were they don't look real. Before this film I don't think I had really seen anything else from Alex Garland but this film proves to me that he's a force to be reckoned with he did a fantastic job directing this film he did give this film a very slow pace but that worked for this movie as it added to the intense nature of the film and because this is such an intriguing film you never bored by it. Like I said, I did have a few issues with Gleesons character I didn't really find him that interesting a protagonist, the script makes all these big claims about him being so impressive but you never really see any one them with your own eyes. Another flaws comes from the last five minutes it's a flaw that has been repeated a lot but there's a moment at the end that just doesn't really make any sense as to how a certain helicopter pilot wasn't a bit more suspicious and I really thought they could have come up with a better way of getting around such a blatant plot hole.
Ex Machina has all the hallmarks of a great sci-if film, its incredibly intriguing, the performances are all fantastic with Vikander being especially good, it's got some intriguing view on life itself and is an extremely intense experience.
83%/A-