***GREAT FILM***
which doubles as a research facility, secluded high in the mountains where there is almost no human contact. By shooting almost the entire film in one location, it can be hard to create a compelling story. Garland is able to go above and beyond that to create an environment that blends Sci-fi with reality. By creating that strong environment and allowing the story to unfold before the audience, Garland is able to place the audience at the center of the story themselves to test the robot and change the way that Sci-fi films can ultimately be looked at.
One major element for a story like this to be successful is the acting. If the acting does not seem right or feels out of place, than the story will feel disconnected. The three main leads are perfectly chosen for their roles. Gleeson plays, Caleb, who was sent there to test the A.I., Ava. What separates him from the other characters is that he is essentially an audience member. He too has no idea what is going to happen next. Gleeson is able to express his character’s emotions through his facial expressions (especially in his eyes), which in turn reflects back on how the audience is viewing Ava. We see him feeling more and more connected to Ava which in turn causes us to become more connected with her. Vikander plays Ava, the A.I. created to change the world, and in my opinion gives the best performance of the film. What makes this the best performance is the fact that there are moments when we cannot separate her from either being a robot or a human. By not being able to separate her from who she really is, shows the depth that Vikander is able to achieve in making the audience almost love Ava. We in turn want her to become part of our world. That brings us to Oscar Isaac who always gives a phenomenal performance no matter what he is in. By playing Nathan, the “villain” in the film, he is able to express his emotions in a physical and intimidating manner. Whenever he is on screen, you almost feel uncomfortable watching him and never know if he is going to snap or not. By giving the audience this sense of confusion and unease he is able to make you question who he is all together. With these amazing performances, along with beautiful cinematography by Rob Hardy and an excellent score from Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow, Garland is able to bring all of these elements together to create a Sci-fi masterpiece. By bringing us into a world that seems like reality, he is able to tell a story of not only love and understanding, but also a glimpse into possibly the future of the human race. By allowing the audience to test Ava, we are able to place her in reality and see her as one of us. ——————————————–——————————————–——————————————– An Audience Perspective (Mike Welsch): How many times have you checked Facebook today? Instagram? Twitter? Snapchat? If you are anything like me then I would suspect the answer to be similar: too many times already. There is no denying that technology has and continues to progress at an exponential rate, not only from a technical perspective, but socially as well. From iPhones to MRI machines, technology has sparked a worldly evolution within the past decade that will change the way humans think, interact, and communicate for the remainder of our species' existence. We are creatures drawn to creation and innovation, enthralled by discovery and the unknown, and possessed with intelligence. We have always asked ourselves how we can reach that next technological breakthrough and such has instigated our culture of ignorance to the real question: at what cost do we reach it? Ex Machina paints a vivid and disturbing picture of Man's obsession with advancement and the role that artificial intelligence plays in the evolution of our species. The film dances around a key theme to the story: what is alive? Does being alive mean being able to speak and to communicate? Does it mean being able to feel and sense pain? Perhaps it means being able to employ logic? Or to know fear? Empathy? Love? I say the film is disturbing because it forces us to dissect what makes us human and what truly makes us alive. The film's primary specimen of artificial intelligence, Ava, may be made of glass and metal hardware functioning by means of computer logic and electrical circuitry, but what if "she" can do and feel the things mentioned above? At what point does something meet the requirements for what it means to be alive and conscious? It is oddly fascinating as well as terrifying to consider the possibility that we as a species have reached a technological level in our intellect that allows us to mimic, or otherwise create, a functioning replica of a human being. "To erase the line between man and machine is to obscure the line between men and gods." There is plenty of speculation regarding the current progress of artificial intelligence as it exists in today's world, but the very concept alone signifies that we are indeed striving for the power of gods. And when we finally realize that power and create a machine that thinks and talks and feels...where will human beings fall on the evolutionary scale?
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Authors:Pat Brennan: Recent Film grad from Temple University with a love for all aspects of film. David Fincher for life. Archives:
November 2016
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