Good cinematography, Beautiful Actresses, Flat Storyline, Plain Characters

Rating: 3/10 (20 May 2015)

Ex Machina is one of the film that would easily receive high scores from the public due to the overall ignorance of artificial intelligence and the plentiful of beautifully shot nudes in the movie. As an artificial programmer, software designer, cinematographer, and fashion photographer, let me break down why I give the movie 3 out of 10.
Let's start with pros:
1. The movie is generally beautifully shot. Very artful execution of many nude scenes. This alone can probably score a 10 for most short films. Unfortunately this is a full length film, so cinematography and attractive naked ladies alone won't cut it. 2. Stunning interior sets. 3. The movie brought up a debate of whether sexuality helps to shape human consciousness. This idea existed since ancient time, but was a popular debate in the 30s. Of course the movie misdirected its argument - the debate is about societal impact rather than the individual impact (obviously one can have consciousness while being asexual). Nonetheless, we should give the director some credits for trying - especially considering the depth of the movie is so shallow.
Now here comes the cons:
1. The movie depicts unrealistic core plots. Building complex algorithms takes much more than a single person (or even thousands of tireless engineers). The fact that the film makers think it even could be possible makes me laugh. The logic behind the algorithm is also extremely laughable. I feel the film makers might be read some articles (taken out of proper contexts) from WIRED magazine and be like, "Yeah dude, that works for a movie." 2. The movie failed to explore details of the technology - due to the fact that the film makers probably know little about them. 3. None of the programmers in the movies are realistic - the way they talk, act, or things they say, just seem like from someone know little to nothing about programming. 4. The plots and settings in the movie are naive and laughable both from story telling perspective or technical perspective. 5. The storyline itself has little dramas, falls completely flat. Completely predictable. 6. No character in the movie are likable. Their reactions and emotions all seem fake and forced merely to play out the plots and push the story forward. 7. The movie failed to explore the underlying philosophical debates of artificial intelligence - probably because the film makers fail to understand what artificial intelligence means.
Overall, the movie is plain and vulgar, feeling like some masturbation piece from fantasizing nerds who know how to use cameras well. However it would be a good movie to buy DVD for, because you can collect beautifully shot naked ladies from the movie - if that is what you are into.