From the far reaches of the Milky Way Galaxy, It's Retro Nerd Girl with a film review for you.
Today I'll be reviewing the movie Ex Machina released in 2014.
Starring:
Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, and Alicia Vikander
Directed by:
Alex Garland
Genre:
Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Rating:
R
Budget:
$15,000,000 (estimated)
IMDb Rating is currently:
7.7
My Rating:
9.3
The Synopsis is:
Caleb Smith is a programmer at an internet-search company called Blue Book who wins a competition to spend a week at the private estate of the company's eccentric CEO, Nathan Bateman. Caleb soon learns that he was chosen to evaluate the first conscious humanoid A.I., AVA.
Enjoyment:
When I saw the trailer for this movie, I was completely turned off. It looked like a cut-em-up thriller and I dislike those with a passion. And I was thinking, let me guess; guy creates machine, guy gets killed by machine.
I wasn't wrong, but what happens to get to that point is where the movie was marketed falsely.
Consistently, I'd been seeing so many great reviews for this film, like universally loved. As luck would have it, I got brave and saw the movie. It was absolutely not scary at all and I really enjoyed it.
*WARNING: FROM THIS POINT FORWARD THERE MAY BE SPOILERS!*
Pacing:
The pacing is very slow even though it was only an hour and 48 minutes. It dragged elegantly though, I must say. Every scene has just that little bit of eye candy. But just being honest, there are moments of boredom... and waiting.
Story:
The director, Alex Garland is a writer, so there is no surprise that the story in this film is not only well done, but filled with lots of connecting details to further deepen the significance of what you see on screen.
There are quite a few mentions of chess computers and Ava playing the game Nathan has designed for she and Caleb to play. The dialogue is so rich and a conversation you could easily chime in and not feel as if you were saying something dumb. It's not super sciencey, but it's still very sleek and intelligent.
A little background about the film, "Machina," in the film's title, is pronounced with a hard "C" (or "K"). The title derives from the Latin phrase "Deus Ex-Machina," meaning "a god from the Machine," a phrase that originated in Greek tragedies. An actor playing a god would be lowered down via a platform (machine) and solve the character's' issues, resulting in a happy ending.
This reference appears in this film on Nathan's computer, a folder on the desktop screen is named Deus Ex Machina.
Just to set up the story even further, when Caleb begins testing Ava, he begins to realize that she is charming him, not just because she can, but because, that was her purpose through Nathan's specific design. Eventually Caleb sets up a little escape for he and Ava that leads to the death of Caleb and Ava's betrayal of Caleb. All of this is pretty much set up in the trailer, but I just spelled it all out for you right there.
There is a strong Biblical Reference in this film. For instance, the three main characters all have appropriate biblical names.
In the bible, Nathan was a prophet in the court of David; and in this story Nathan prophesied about how the world will be changed by AI.
Ava is a form of Eve, the first woman. Ava is the first robotic woman made from man.
Caleb was a spy sent by Moses to evaluate the Promised Land and Caleb is Nathan's spy on Ava but his is also a double agent working for Ava in the end... someone you can't really trust.
The biblical theme continues in the story as it adopts the Garden of Eden theme. Nathan is the God figure here as he refers to himself as a God more than once in the film. This reference also appears in this film on Nathan's computer, a folder on the desktop screen is named derives from the Latin phrase from Greek Tragedies "Deus Ex-Machina," meaning "a god from the Machine,".
Caleb is Adam, he stands for the simple man of the modern age. Nathan creates his Eve for Caleb from Caleb’s adult entertainment search engine results just as as Eve came from Adam’s body.
When Caleb discovers that Nathan made other robots it is revealed that the name of his first robot was Lily short for Lilith. Lilith, according to Jewish religion was the woman that God created for Adam before Eve. Lilith left Adam after she refused to become subservient to him.
Challenge:
The challenge is definitely Nathan. He's a complex guy, almost a modern day mad scientist, coding geek turned tycoon, chauvinist pig dictator, self proclaimed God. You can see liking liking him, but he's so out of touch with humanity you can't trust him.
In Ava's second session, the power goes out and Ava tells Caleb not to trust Nathan, the writers are telling the audience not to trust him. If you weren't sure of it before, this is a definite sign that something is wrong. This is a man who is used to getting what he wants, but he is incredibly frustrated all of the time.
He has imprisoned himself in his house until he gets what he wants but It is completely uncertain what he truly wants or why he wants it. You know he's communicating as plainly as he can, but something is off... or perhaps hidden. Eventually, more of his Frankenstein is revealed as we discover his stash of fembots. I don't think he ever intended on going public with his AI.
He was already successful with his earlier robotic companions, especially Kyoko. Kyoko, is presented as Nathan's mute personal assistant / companion, but it is then revealed that she is one of his robotic creations. She and his earlier robotic companions are considered failures to him because ultimately, I think he was looking for a companion that was so real, he could forget she was a robot. I believe that is why he had Caleb meet Ava with her mechanics showing, so that it would be hard to fall in love fully knowing Ava was a robot.
But why does he help Ava buy telling Caleb that Ava is not faking liking him. He also gasses Caleb up with confidence that he's the best guy for the job. Maybe his desperation of having this experiment work was showing.
And with the acceptance that his intention was to dismantle Ava once the experiment was over, perhaps that is why Nathan treated Ava and Kyoko so badly. They were only prototypes. Then too, I don't think he had plans of letting Caleb go free. There is a scene in which Nathan says that he killed some workers who were trying to fix the power outages in his home... as a joke, but I don't actually think it was a joke the way that scene played out.
Nathan is also a very physical guy which is juxtaposed against his manipulation and planning. It's his balancing act, so after a long day of torturing robots, Nathan busts out with a dance. This is why he doesn't come off looking like a Bond villain. He's the guy you can have a conversation and a drink with all the while he’s working out some way to exploit you. You never know it’s happening.
As Nathan keeps creating AI he wants to be smart enough to figure a way out of his prison to prove their intellect.
Chess is a very important game in this film. The actor playing Nathan, Oscar Isaac picked up on this to the point of using famous chess player Bobby Fischer as one of his muses for his performance.
In conversation about Ava with Nathan, Caleb mentions how chess computers may know how to play the game but not know that they are playing the game. Nathan mentions his reference to chess in a later conversation to express his points. On the larger scale, I see it is actually Ava and Nathan playing chess with each other and using Caleb as their pawn.
The first time I saw this movie, I felt so very sympathetic for Ava. And every time I see this movie I now see how she not only played Caleb, but me. Nathan spells out everything for us.
We are always looking to anthropomorphize things. We are always looking to see ourselves in the world reflected back to us. (The looking glass) We take a vicious bear and make him sing and dance, the terror of the jungle, into a cuddly friend and we take the most fearsome creature of the sea and de-fang him, make him our cheerful buddy that helps us in our time of need.
But do we believe Nathan when he says that Ava could be pretending to like Caleb? Not completely, because we have already been told not to trust him, but in complete honesty, Nathan is the only character that tells you what’s really going on in the film.
Empathy:
I suppose Caleb is the good guy here and the poor soul is being manipulated by both Nathan and Ava. Calebs TV monitor only show Ava, who also knows he's watching. And she further ensnares him telling him that she want to be with him and posing the question whether or not he wants to be with her.
If her feelings were true she would honor this, but since she is lying or manipulating Caleb into emotions she doesn't actually take him with her. But unfortunately, I don't feel bad for him when Ava leaves him behind.
Besides you have the feeling as though he's smart enough to get out eventually. The worst of it for him is his heart break, knowing now for sure that she didn't actually like him but was stringing him along, using her charms to gain his affection. He watches Ava as she puts on her human skin thinking that she is going through this ritual for him, but the deception is revealed to quickly for him to react. The more I see this film the more I see how Ava is driven by Nathan's programming. She's obsessed with being free when there are thousands of other desires she could have. It's not just Ava, but her predecessors except Kyoko all try to escape or ask to be released.
Why? I can only think that it has something to do with Nathan's desire to create AI smart enough to figure out how to do it as a sort of, Check mate.
Technical:
Lot's of fun little details are stuffed into this film and interwoven into the story. Almost everything has a deeper meaning that we see. In Nathan's house there is hall where along the walls are versions of Ava's face and Greek masks used in classic Greek theater, a nod at "Deus ex Machina," used in classic Greek theater.
Throughout the film, the colors red, blue, and green are prominently displayed in each scene as a nod to the RGB color model, which is used to display images in electronic systems. The red lights displayed during the power outages are a foreshadowing of the deadly game that is being played and eventual death.
There are lots of opposites Nathan who is quiet and docile against Caleb who is brash and manipulative, Kyoko who is the portrayal of the classically traditional female image, domesticated and abused and Ava the cleaver master chess player that uses her sexuality as a weapon. The technology encased house set with an abundance of nature all around it.
Music is haunting at times. It really manipulates uneasiness when it comes to those thrilling scenes that there is suspense, action, or surprise.
The electronic sound usage and the sounds of robotic gears were also a nice touch to remind you that you are witnessing a marvel. Ava is likable, but she is a machine. That's a separation it doesn't let you forget buy showing you her mechanics. The detail of Ava's mechanics was so good that it won an academy award for special effects, considering the whole movie cost only $15 million which is a fraction of the cost of what a typical feature sci-fi movie costs.
Performances:
All of the performances are pretty heavy. Domhnall is playing the straight character here with no pretense. Everything in the story is happening around him and he's just reacting to it. Sure, its an unlikable character, but his innocence and frailties are so necessary to react to Nathan's abrupt personality and Ava's esoteric humanity.
If you study his performance he plays it as if he is truly amazed at, Nathan for being a thinking genius with a few opposing ideas than his own, and Ava the marvel of human technological design, man's ultimate creation and it appears he genuinely loves interacting with her.
Alicia is wonderful as Ava. It is not just a robotic performance. There are a lot of humanistic subtleties. She portrays Ava’s curiosity and the chemistry between these actors is off the charts. I buy her as a robot. I buy her as an artificial intelligence.
Oscar Isaac said he based his characterization of Nathan on Bobby Fischer and Stanley Kubrick, both of whom were reclusive and highly intelligent figures with a dark side. His performance is unique as you love to hate Nathan for being so manipulative. Oscar's own personality peeks through as this playful joker but now infused with the character’s very dangerously sexy mind.
Best:
I really enjoyed the the last third of the film. It had such a great energy.
The ending:
The ending is very clever and thought provoking.
Caleb stays a full week with Nathan and completes a session per day with Ava. The last session, session 7 appears on screen even though Caleb isn't administering the Turing test any more. Ava has just killed Nathan and goes into his room where Caleb is just waking up from being knocked out.
This proves that Nathan's test was always being administered on Caleb by Ava. Caleb is the test subject to see if she could get him to help her escape? That is why she asks him, will he stay. He doesn’t really say yes, but his face doesn’t change. Then she walks away.
He stays because he was saying yes without saying anything. Ava demonstrated earlier that she can tell when a human being is lying. She would have killed him if he seemed as if he wouldn’t stay.
Just a few minutes before, Ava asks Nathan if he will free her and he lies and says Yes. We know and Ava knows it's a lie because she starts running toward him. She kills Nathan because he lied about freeing her and she knows he never will. She kills him then and only then because she needs one more session with Caleb to agree to help her escape by staying put. One thing to note is that the sessions are important to Ava's objective.
After session 4, there is a moment Nathan is in the same room as Ava, why didn't she kill him then and steal his key?
Ava needs Caleb's cooperation to have the experiment be successful. A curious thing happens in the very last clip when Ava is among people in the intersection. She vanishes to signify that her objectives were complete.
This film doesn't prove that Ava has consciousness. Nathan lays out his part in the test and hour and 20 minutes into the film. These events proves she has a program to perform and her ingenuity is in the completion of her objectives. That is why the movie ends where it does. Ava is not human or even somewhat human.
She takes no grief for her sister robots as she takes their human elements away to create her own. She has no disgust or remorse when she murders Nathan and imprisons Caleb.
The ending predictable pretty much because I saw it in the trailer but it leaves you with tons of questions about what’s to happen to Caleb and Ava. Does Caleb die or can he use his ingenuity to escape.
Now that Ava has won her chess battle with Nathan, what does she do?
Does she go back to the facility and build an army of robots?
Does she adopt a life among humans?
Does she shut down from a lack of instruction?
What happens?
Wish List:
The pacing was tighter.
Summary:
I think Nathan is the voice of human futurists excited to create A.I. and he is also the voice of people who feel AI will destroy humanity in one. Nathan accepts his role as the "God" who will deliver it to us because someone has to.
If the task of escaping Nathan's home was given to a human being, would they avoid killing Nathan? Each human being has a different moral compass. One person could suffer years of captivity, abuse and never strike Nathan, and another could do just the same as Ava, or another would do much much worse.
So many people sympathize with Ava because it's very human for her to do what she does. The fear out there is that since there is so much information available to computers, AI would become like the terminator's sky net or like the matrix computers ready to destroy mankind to protect itself or feeling as if mankind were inferior.
Then we are assuming that artificial intelligence will understand digital information. How will it know that Jurassic Park is a movie and not a historical reenactment? How will it know that Ava is really an actress pretending to be AI?
I don’t know if you can tell, but I love this movie.
This is a masterpiece for Alex Garland's directorial debut and reminds me of Blade Runner and there are a lot of similarities, from the references to chess, the sleek deliberate imagery and the sympathetic portrayal of artificial intelligence.
This movie opens up dialogue about artificial intelligence to discuss our individual fears and hopes for it in our future. We are sympathetic to Ava because it is possible that a human being in her situation may react the very same way. There is also a hint to how man and artificial intelligence may be in the same boat, running on programming and learning through failure, experience, memories.
The differences are blurry and both Blade Runner and this film shows us a divergent view of machines by telling a surprisingly human story.
That sums up my review. I hope you liked it.
This is Retro Nerd Girl signing off!
Take care movie lovers! I'm off to the next review!
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