The only things I knew about Ex Machina going in to it in 2014 was that it was a British made science fiction film, written and directed by Alex Garland (writer of 28 Days Later and Dredd) and that the plot revolved around the idea of an artificial intelligence. I was sold on it instantly.
Ex Machina is the story of Ava, an artificial intelligence created by wealthy business man and technological genius Nathan, told through the eyes of Caleb. Caleb is a computer programmer in Nathan's company who wins a competition to go and visit Nathan in his home/research laboratory for a week, and ends up with the opportunity to perform a variant of the Turing Test on Ava in order to determine if she qualifies as a true AI.
As with all great sci-fi, Ex Machina uses it's central concept in order to tell a very human story while continuously expanding on the central idea. Unlike a lot of more recent films, which throw a bunch of future technologies at the wall to see what sticks, Ex Machina instead focuses on just the one idea and allows that to be the centre of the story, with very little else showing up. It's great to see a science fiction film so confident in its central premise, especially from a first time director. Comparisons to Blade Runner or other films related to artificial intelligence would be unfair - despite sharing a concept, the story being told is radically different, and the comparison is dismissive of the ingenuity and originality on display here.
Ex Machina wastes no time setting up the premise of the film, which is always refreshing - Caleb is whisked away to the research facility in the first minute of run time, giving us as an audience the same sense of uncertainty and haste that Caleb himself would be feeling, instantly helping us to connect to a character we really know very little about, at least at first. Domnhall Gleeson is perfect as Caleb, really helping to sell a character that could have ended up distant or emotionally stunted in the wrong hands, and it's clear why he is frequently cited as a rising star and one to watch. Oscar Isaac is just as great as Nathan, playing the typical tortured genius as brash, abrasive and occasionally downright rude, and completely owns one of the best scenes - "Dance with her".
But it is Alicia Vikander, who plays Ava, that really shines here. Initially, I forgot to talk about how good she is in this film because I forgot that Ava was played by an actress, instead completely buying into the character as an artificial intelligence, a creation of the film. There is a sense of naivety and vulnerability in the performance that means Ava is at once the most human character on screen, while at the same time maintaining a level of intelligence that makes her seem almost other worldly, frequently plunging into the uncanny valley and back out. The design of Ava is great, with human looking feet, hands and face connected by a clear exoskeleton with wires and cables running throughout. She is completely captivating to watch thanks to a combination of the design, great CGI and solid, believable acting.
Ex Machina ends up being one of the best pure science fiction films I've seen in a long time, with a great cast in a well written and original story that, despite using a fairly tried and tested sci-fi concept, never feels stale or predictable. It's smart without being pretentious, and concise enough that it doesn't outstay it's welcome, and is a film that I would recommend to anyone with an interest in science fiction.
I read every bad review about this film before walking into the cinema and I was still disappointed.
My expectations could not have been lower and yet, Suicide Squad still failed to make a mark. Written and directed by David Ayer, the latest DC instalment lacked purpose, depth and excitement. In fact, I would go as far as saying that every bullet missed the target on this one. I found myself bored throughout many of the action scenes, silent during moments of 'humour' and unimpressed with forced relationships.
Ayer was, in many ways, restricted by studio execs and brand managers who insisted upon a certain product - even if it was a lesser one! One particular problem with the creation of this film seemed to be the deadlines. Ayer was given a release date and had to write, shoot and edit before that time. Sounds like any other film, yes, but Ayer wanted time to develop the film and was not given the chance to. In fact, two different versions of the film were screened for test audiences and Ayer's more developed version was not favoured by the studio. One of the other shackles attached to Ayer and Suicide Squad was the demand for a PG13/15 rating. With a film centred on bad guys with an attitude, it was frustrating that the rating was so low. Perhaps an R/18 rating would have been better suited to allow Ayer to explore his characters in more seedy depth. Many of the aspects of what make these characters great are only brushed upon because too much violence, language or sexually explicit scenes would hike the age rating. Although Deadpool was problematic for several reasons, it was an enjoyable ADULT film that still dominated the market despite excluding the young up and coming comic fans.
Whilst Deadshot and Harley Quinn had potential in the film there simply wasn't enough to carry the rest of the cast. Cara Delevingne, for example, should never have been cast as Dr Moon/Enchantress. She should never have made the move into acting in the first place. Hiding the fact she cannot do accents behind an ancient language and subtitles was one thing, but Ayer could not hide her basic inability to act. The audience are supposed to be in awe of this character in both of her physical states but whenever she was on screen it was cringe worthy watching her sway her hips or flail into the arms of her soldier boyfriend. Speaking of the soldier, Captain Flag, Joel Kinnaman was a pleasant replacement for early drop out Tom Hardy. He was an underdeveloped character but did his best in the screen time allotted to him. Being an underdeveloped character in Suicide Squad is like being a hipster in a trendy cafe. They are fucking everywhere. The audience is force fed snapshot origin stories at the very beginning of the film and are occasionally given additional flashbacks as the story progresses. But other than that, the characters are dropped into the DC universe, as the fans currently know it, and left to fend for themselves. Even the Joker, a character we all know and love, was new and improved but without any context. At the end of Suicide Squad, the only characters I would be happy having origin stories would be Deadshot and Harley Quinn but that is more to do with the performances than the writing.
Ultimately a film with great potential to slingshot DC back into my good books, after the fall of Batman - thanks Affleck, was a disappointment from the ground up. I thoroughly blame the restrictions on Ayer and the time scale in which the film needed to be made. Perhaps after the afore mentioned success of bad-guy-good-guy Deadpool, it felt as if Suicide Squad was rushed in order to jump on the band wagon. If we'd had individual origin stories for the main troupe beforehand then perhaps the time in this film could have been better utilised. I cannot help but wonder how much better the film would have been had the first 20 minutes of rambling character description been replaced with more content. I'm sure the film will still top box offices around the world but whether it, with the amount of negativity from critics and fans, will make back it's initial investment is still up in the air.
