Minor warning that I will most likely ramble a little bit and possibly go slightly off topic but that's a thing that I do fairly often so get used to it. Also a quick note that I have left it totally spoiler free.
Right so I went to see Ex Machina on Wednesday and it took me awhile to fully process what I'd watched and work out what I thought of it. It was only when I told someone about it yesterday that something in my brain finally clicked and I remembered how to form opinions. The film kind of set my brain reeling and I couldn't discuss it afterwards. I forgot adjectives, I forgot emotions, hell, I forgot how to speak English.
When the first advertisements came out for Ex Machina, I missed them. My uncle spotted one, knew it was something I'd like (I fricking love robots!) and then did a wonderful job of having no idea what the name of it was. I actually had to do research to find out about it and was extremely intrigued at the time because Wikipedia only had one line about it and so I got excited. I got really excited. Then it kind of went to the back of my mind what with college things to think about and whatnot but I was still aware of it and I wanted to see it. It wasn't until I decided for definite that I was going to see it in the cinema that I chanced a peek at the reviews and was instantly impressed by the high ratings and mostly glowing reviews.
In other words, there was an awful lot of build up for me and so when I actually saw it, it didn't match up with the way I'd imagined it. I'm not saying it wasn't good, in fact I found it immensely enjoyable to see and found it chillingly thought provoking afterwards.
If you're one of those people like my grandfather who believe some manner of violent action should occur every few moments in a film then Ex Machina is probably not for you. There is a small bit but it's only a few minutes worth altogether, which certainly wouldn't be enough for any of those bloodthirsty people. If however, you like having little clues presented to you for over an hour and trying to piece them together before the big reveal towards the end then you will most definitely enjoy Ex Machina.
So the actual film!
Basically, Caleb wins a lottery at work that means he gets to spend a week on the estate of his employer, Nathan. Lo and behold when he gets there he discovers that he's not there for a little holiday but rather to test an android that possesses what Nathan believes is true Artificial Intelligence. After signing the mother of all Confidentiality Agreements, Caleb gets to meet the android, Ava, in the flesh (ha ha, I'm so funny!). There are a lot of things that I think you see coming in this film. You know there's something not quite right going on, that there's some sinister reason behind the need for secrecy and you also know that Caleb's going to end up with a thing for Ava. I'm sorry that's not even a spoiler. It's that obvious you can see it coming from a mile away.
You go through the whole film and you form opinions about Nathan and you form opinions about Ava. Some assumptions I made turned out to be right but it turned out I'd been viewing something in a better light than they turned out to be. You've got a few moments of horror when Caleb finds everything out then you've got a whole other twist afterwards that I don't think anyone saw coming, one that probably freaked me out more than the reveal did.
I've never studied film or anything so for anyone who has, you'll have to excuse any ridiculously stupid things I might come out with and bear with my brief comments on things that stuck out for me.
The special effects for this film are damn good. Alicia Vikander looks fabulous as an android and the blending of real flesh with the metallic body is quite excellent. The way the android body moves and the sound of the mechanisms within are just so right. I cannot fault the robot effects. Robots are perfect! Also full frontal female nudity, wonderful! And before I head off on some weird little sidetrack, more film technique related things.
Continuing with visuals, there is so much beautiful scenery in Ex Machina. There was filming done in Norway and they just want to keep throwing it in your face by going outside a lot, or sticking the outside world in the background. There's a very strong contrast with this beautiful colourful outside world that Caleb and Nathan get to inhabit and the windowless, grey one where Ava dwells. You have to think about these things, compare things and see what you come up with. Thinking and seeing is what this film is all about as far as I'm concerned. You have to look for the little details as well as the big ones, remember them and consider the whole film in light of all those pieces. One of the biggest questions that could arise is the definition of human and what can pass as human. Appearance is everything in this film, how we view everyone in it, whether we see them as good or bad based on how they act and how they seem.
What was I doing again? Visuals, right. You've your standard way of shooting of "I am pointing this camera here and it is not a shaky camcorder or other mode of recording where you are made hyper aware of the fact that a camera is involved." I know, I shouldn't name things like that but screw it. There are also a number of CCTV style shots. Pure voyeurism! Anyway, they also play around with the lighting. When everything goes dark red, you know that something shady is going on. It's a bit obvious but it is film and it's supposed to be a visual medium. Also the soundtrack is killer.
To sum things up, I liked it. If you like films that actually require some thought rather than mindless consumption then you might well like it too. The pacing might seem a little unusual but if you bear with it, I consider it entirely worth it. Also there's a few highly amusing parts in it including a dance scene that is just unreal.
If you want more detailed robot related ranting then I will likely be turning out one or two posts about robots and consciousness, some ideas that have been thrown around concerning robots and of course, fangirl moments over Isaac Asimov and his writing because I just can't help it.
Ciao for now.
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