Exceptional

Rating: 9/10 (14 August 2018)

Thought provoking, visually stunning, and extraordinarily entertaining. It's rare today for a Sci-Fi film to surprise us, and Alex Garland guides this movie to that goal masterfully. At face value, one of the better movies of this decade so far.
Two flaws prevent this movie from being a pure masterpiece. Firstly, the conclusion of the film feels somewhat rushed. This is redeemed by a twist at the end, *spoiler alert* in which Ava demonstrates a change in character that likely fooled most viewers. To that end, ten more minutes added to this film would've made all the difference.
The second issue, and this may surprise some to hear, is the originality of the plot. Once you cut off all the fat - remove the exceptional performances by Alicia Vikander and Oscar Isaac, (followed closely by Domnhall Gleeson), the remarkable special effects, the beautiful imagery, the well-thought-out writing, and the outstanding relevance to modern life - stripped down of all that, the plot is a modern retelling of a story written by a 20-year-old Mary Shelley, 200 years ago. One might argue this is nitpicking, but if you cross Frankenstein with 2001: A Space Odyssey, you have the plot for this movie. Originality has to be celebrated.
For those two reasons, and a few very minor infractions, one star must be taken. However, for pure execution, including but not limited to the successes listed above, this movie earns the other 9 stars. Top quality film, particularly among those in both the Sci-Fi genre and in the modern film scene.