Review of Ex Machina (2015) by Garrett C — 26 Jun 2016
Drawing on a whole slew of ideas before it (Frankenstein, Metropolis, 2001, Solaris, Wittgenstein, Blade Runner, and others), Ex Machina doesn't necessarily add to the conversation on AI as much as it asks questions of its audience.
The ending is ambiguous as to whether it is happy or unhappy, but it is satisfying as a conclusion to the stories of the characters. That's a heck of an achievement. The film doesn't completely earn its Kubrickian moments of glacial pacing, but it stays engaging for the majority of the time.
I wouldn't hasten to call this a new classic of the sci-fi genre, but I am enormously happy that there are still superb one-off sci-fi films like this that are getting made that are not based on anything and are not thrillers.
It felt nice to be seeing something that would have been more at home in the cinema of the 60's-70's. Films like Ex Machina need to keep being made in a world where it seems the only worthy sci-fi films are loaded with video game aliens and comic book gods.
This review of Ex Machina (2015) was written by Garrett C on 26 Jun 2016.
Ex Machina has generally received very positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
