Sex Machina

Rating: 6/10 (3 May 2015)

(Ratings: ☆☆ ½ out of 4)
This film is mildly recommended.
In brief: A visual treat for the eyes, but the mind is deactivated by a dumb script.
GRADE: B-
Why aren't futuristic robots ever fat and ugly? I just had to ask that question, for whenever I see those female androids in sci-fi movies, they are always stunningly beautiful sleek models of perfection who become clever and resourceful adversaries. That being said, the latest prototype of artificial intelligence is on the market in the indie thriller, Ex Machina.
Computer genius Caleb (Domhnall Gleason) is send on assignment to work on a top secret project in the isolated home of a wealthy CEO for the company. His boss, Nathan (Oscar Isaac), has a specific project in mind: an A.I. that he has created and named Ava (Alicia Vikander). Ava is two thirds human parts (face, hands and feet) and one third metal and plastic, but very well-put-together, so much so that IKEA would like the patent.
￼Of course, we already sense the foreboding danger before Caleb does. Writer / Director Alex Garland sets up that fact all too obviously with the physical fortress-like setting, its eerie lighting, and the actions of both Nathan and Ava from the outset. Been here, seen that before.
Taking that well-worn successful formula of man's endless obsession with the bots and the bots displaying conflicting human emotion, as was the conceit of Jonzes' film her and Spielberg's A.I., Garland's film never engages its viewer emotionally. There is a nagging remoteness, not only in the fabricated Ava, but in the human characters as well. As written, Nathan and Caleb are suppose to be highly intelligent men, but their actions are self- destructive and juvenile from the get-go. The actors, who do yeoman-like work, should not be faulted, but the four character script surely can garner its share of the blame. (Sonoya Mizuno plays Nathan's mute geisha servant who supplies the frontal nudity to keep the audience awake.) The dialog is an endless existential debate about our humanity (of lack thereof) and it gets rather tedious awful fast.
Garfield the Writer has larger issues he wants to tackle, but the film breaks down to a "them vs. us" mentality rather quickly. The "shocking" reveals and twists aren't very surprising or satisfying. Everyone acts strange throughout. But there is strange, and there is STRANGE and without logical characters and actions at play, there is no basis for credibility or interest.
However, Garfield the Director has created a wonderful look for his film. He efficiently uses reflections in mirrors and glass to give Ex Machina a hallucinatory unearthly feel. The art design works overtime to hide the sci-fi failings of the script. Kudos to the art direction of for Mark Digby, Michelle Day, and Katrina Mackay and Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury's dissonant music score which adds a nice atmospheric touch and keeps the tension there.
￼While the film is visually exciting to watch, Ex Machina is a hollow replicant of so many other sci-fi droid movies. Its surface is shiny and polished, but there is nothing at its core.
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