Great philosophical-intellectual-type sci-fi film

Rating: 9/10 (14 July 2015)

This is one hell of a directorial debut for Alex Garland. You see, to me, sci-fis can go in one of two directions: awesome action thriller (Alien), great philosophical-intellectual type film (Interstellar, 2001: A Space Odyssey, etc.), and if a sci-fi tries to go both ways (Prometheus...), it does so at the expense of both ways and you end up with an average middle-ground, in my humble opinion. This film does the philosophical-intellectual thing really well. There are 4 things which make this film a great film: Oscar Isaac's character (very fascinating to listen to and watch; he's one of those really smart but definitely not nerdy geniuses, kind of like Tony Stark/Iron Man in a way) and Ava's character (brings a touch of humanity to the plate, ironically, as she is shown to be vulnerable but not all that she seems character), the dialogue and interactions between the characters (all of it, from the discussions on AI to aspects of life to what it means to be human, which is always a huge plus for me), the suspense towards the end and the twist, and the overall exploration of AI. The acting all around is great, the soundtrack, cinematography, and directing really set the mood very well, and the way we are shown things and how we gradually find out the explanations keeps you intrigued all through along with the great dialogue. There is a surprising amount of nudity, though, in this film, which kind of caught me off guard. There is only one slight weakness to the film, and that's Domnhall Gleeson's character. He isn't really fleshed out, and I feel like they had a missed opportunity to do that really well in the beginning, because throughout the film, you kind of just see him as this guy who's into AI, and nothing much more. What really made me notice this was because of how great Oscar Isaac and Ava were, so in that crowd, he stands out. Anyways, it's not really an issue. Just more of a missed opportunity for a perfect film.