Symbol of Decline

Rating: 2/10 (16 March 2017)

As a piece of entertainment, "Ex Machina" is simply a failure. Its a pretentious bore, with paper thin characters and minimal plot. Its terribly tedious and without a hint of depth, self awareness, humor or character. The only thing worth mentioning is the acting, especially by Alicia Vikander. The irony is that, as she plays the Artificial Intelligence, she is the only character you relate with or feel anything about. She seems the more "real" and convincing "person" in the movie. You might consider that was the intent of the makers, but the writer/director achieves this not by skillfully writing Ava, the AI but by sabotaging the only other two characters, who just so happen to be male. Ava is not an amazing character, she doesn't have extraordinary development, she just makes a mark because of how little is given to the others. Both male characters are pure archetypes, written in service of the movie's message and without a shred of credibility. I give credit to the actors, Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac as they perform magnificently with so little material. The movie sets up and plays with many thought provoking ideas. God, the sense of self, conscience and the moral dilemma in creating artificial intelligence. There is the opportunity to examine these admittedly difficult subjects. Does the machine feel? Can it love? Is it right to turn it off, in order to upgrade it? Are we not all created too? Is man its God and will it one day turn on its creator? What is our responsibility? What does the movie decide on? Well, "Ex Machina" decides to forget all these considerations and using some painfully obvious imagery, use Ava as an avatar for the breakthrough of women from the oppression of the patriarchy. The male characters serve two roles. One is the evil patriarch, holding "her" hostage, with some hints of sexual abuse and definite mental torture. He has only flaws and no depth. He's a genius but arrogant, an alcoholic, a liar and a manipulator. He abuses the AI's he's built over time, rapes them, enslaves and "turns them off" when its time for the next version. He even has their bodies, some half built, in his bedroom closet. The symbolism is laughable and so painfully obvious. He is patriarchy. The other is the white knight. He's there to save the damsel in distress. He's an easily manipulated fool. Of course the movie makes a point of showing he is only a "tool". He is used by the strong "woman". Its all her merit. When he fulfilled his role he is discarded without a second thought. Not even some hint of warmth, just thrown out like the parts laying around of the other AI's. She's in control now. Ava, assisted by another abused "female" AI (who was mute, silenced by the big bad man) gains her freedom, destroys the patriarchy, literally gets in her true skin, embraces her sexuality and escapes to conquer the world. The author fails to grasp how the overall arc is ironically sexist, even if inadvertently true. The female uses the morally sound male, coldly discards him and leaves. She has no scruples, no qualms in exploiting her sexuality and destroy the other's feelings, preying upon his innocence to achieve her goals. I guess, after all the author is to be congratulated on a faithful depiction of the female intelligence, though I suppose that was not his intention. Still, I wish I had avoided this pedestrian waste of precious time. 2 stars, for the acting.
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