Critical acclaim is a funny thing. Last year’s mega-flop “Transcendent” dealt Johnny Depp his 40th consecutive misfire and was uniformly dismissed by critics. But it also dealt with the question of artificial intelligence or “the singularity” in a way that felt—to this reviewer—interesting and at least somewhat unique. It showed that A.I. may not be something to be feared at all, and highlighted the positive aspects that might come from it. It was the anti-“Terminator” the same way “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” felt like the anti-“Alien.”
But “Ex Machina” traffics in much more familiar territory—dubious robots exist to trick emotionally stifled humans, “where is the line between man and machine?” blah blah blah—yet received near unanimous critical praise and is much more profitable too. Oh well…
What Works: Everything here is stylishly photographed and the technical aspects are flawless. Out of the three central lead performances, Oscar Isaacs displays the most welcome doses of humor and personality. [It’s the rare film where he’s the least dour person on screen.] Some of the conversations between what makes a machine independently intelligent are fascinating…
What Doesn’t: …and some make you feel trapped in a college philosophy course you never wanted to take. All the lighting tricks and sleek sets in the world can’t disguise the fact that not very much happens until the last 10 minutes of this movie, and you may feel your attention drifting until you get to that point.
And I understand that the emotional remoteness of the human characters is supposed to play with your sympathies, but Hal vs. the robotic astronauts in “2001: A Space Odyssey” made that point much more effectively more than 45 years ago.
What I Would Have Done Differently: I know most critics would say I’m crazy for thinking “Transcendent” is a better movie than “Ex Machina” and I really can’t say that it’s technically “better.” It’s just that one is a slick, cynical film that doesn’t really have a lot going on beneath the surface, and didn’t leave me with much to think about after it was over. And the other may be a lot open to the possibilities of the Singularity.