Ex Machina is a science-fiction thriller written and directed by Alex Garland. The film tells the story of Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson), a computer coder for a powerful technology giant, who wins a competition to spend a week at the private compound of his company’s CEO, Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac). Once the two make acquaintances, Nathan tells Caleb that he was chosen to spend the week with him to witness one of the greatest scientific events in the history of man—Nathan’s creation of “Ava,” an A.I. (artificial intelligence). Caleb must perform a “Turing Test” on the A.I. to determine if Ava has the ability to exhibit intelligent behavior that is equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human. As it becomes evident that Ava possesses incredible intelligence, the lines quickly become blurred between human and machine, and Nathan’s creation proves to be far more sophisticated than anyone could have ever imagined.
This movie is not your run-of-the-mill sci-fi. This movie is an experience unlike many others I’ve ever had—it’s a psychological thriller that is more of a character study than anything else. I have enjoyed a range of other “artificial intelligence” films in the past, such as Steven Spielberg’s A.I. (2001) and I, Robot (2004), but those movies never quite accomplished what Ex Machina has—in my opinion, the depth and genius of Ex Machina starts with writer/director Alex Garland. Garland cemented himself in the industry with his striking screenplay for the horror film 28 Days Later (2002), and in that script, he created one of the finest films in the horror genre; however, his story never became too “tropey,” meaning it never seemed cliché. In Ex Machina, he has done the same thing—only better! The plot of the film leaves the door wide open for a filmmaker to shell out the same boring motifs that already saturate this genre. Thankfully, Garland avoided this temptation and delivered a film that this genre should look to as the modern standard.
I do not want to sugarcoat anything—the film definitely gets incredibly philosophical, pondering what really makes us human. It is a lofty idea to conceptualize, but Garland does so in stunning fashion. His visuals are remarkable (Ava was part live-action and part-CGI), and his characters are even more spectacular. For starters, Ava’s entire existence and ability to learn how to interact like a human sets the tone for the twists, turns, and overall message of Garland’s film. She constantly poses thought-provoking questions to Caleb during his “Turing Test” research. Little by little, these questions create struggles for Caleb that manifest in him questioning his true role in Nathan’s experiment—he especially wonders about his very own existence. 
Speaking of Nathan, he is the most captivating character for me. He is a billionaire tech-genius with seemingly enough resources to live a lavish life. But the lavishness is not what one would imagine—he lives in a beautiful home (which doubles as a research facility), but he is completely secluded from the real world. In this home he is imprisoned, both mentally and physically, and he appears to be nothing more than a reclusive savant/madman. He claims to create Ava for purely scientific purposes, but it is apparent that his motivations are to create the perfect woman—this is his downfall.
Aside from Garland’s filmmaking vision, Ex Machina impresses from an acting standpoint. I am a huge fan of Domhnall Gleeson—he is incredibly charismatic in every role he takes on, but in Ex Machina, he ends up being more of a placeholder than anything else. It is worth noting that although Alicia Vikander and Oscar Isaac outperform Gleeson, this is not due to the latter’s own acting abilities, but instead the fact that Garland left the real story arcs to Ava and Nathan. Vikander nails her portrayal of Ava with grace, yet mystery. Playing a robot-like character is a tall task for any actor, but Vikander succeeds by delivering a perfect character equilibrium—Ava is not too robotic, but not too human, either. Vikander broke out as an actress in 2015, but despite the Oscar nomination for The Danish Girl, this, in my opinion, was her best performance from the past year. As alluded to earlier, I was exceptionally fascinated by Oscar Isaac’s performance as Nathan. He makes hilariously dry jokes and drinks copious amounts of alcohol—Isaac thrives off his character’s apparent charm. But at the same time, Nathan is demented and scary. This two-faced personality profile makes Nathan a character that cannot be trusted, even by the viewer—you never know if Nathan is showing his true colors. 
Oscar Isaac also helmed my favorite scene from the film. At a critical point in the movie where Caleb’s trust in Nathan is rapidly waning, Nathan’s assistant (Sonoya Mizuno) starts to dance on Nathan’s command. Nathan tells Caleb to dance with her, but Caleb has no interest—he wants to speak one-on-one with Nathan and question him about Ava. While asking Nathan what he was doing with Ava, Caleb says, “You tore up her picture.” Without missing a beat, Nathan pompously boasts, “I’m gonna tear up the fucking dance floor, dude, check it out.” Not taking Caleb seriously, Nathan and his assistant then proceed to engage in one of the greatest dance scenes in film history—far and away my favorite moment! Ex Machina is rated R for graphic nudity, language, sexual references, and some violence.
Ex Machina trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYGzRB4Pnq8
Academy Award nominations for Ex Machina:
Best Original Screenplay (Alex Garland)
Best Visual Effects (Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington and Sara Bennett)
Previous movies on the countdown of the Top 15 Films of 2015:
- Spotlight
- Straight Outta Compton
- Kingsman: The Secret Service
- Steve Jobs
- Creed
- ’71
- Room
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens
- Beasts of No Nation
- The Martian
Full disclosure: I saw all seven Star Wars movies over a two-week period during Christmas break; thus, I am not a lifelong fan of the franchise like the traditional Star Wars sycophant. However, after watching both the original and prequel trilogies, I became enraptured by the series and could not wait to watch Episode VII. 
This anticipation for the newest film was two-fold: (1) I had become a genuine fan of the franchise; and (2) I was stoked to see if JJ Abrams could reinvigorate the famed series after its creative genius, George Lucas, nearly drove it into the ground with Episodes I and II (Episode III is actually pretty genius in many respects from a filmmaking standpoint—so get over yourselves, Star Wars nerds). Abrams’s take on Star Wars did not disappoint. But before I get to that and the rest of my review, I have decided to announce my own personal ranking of each film in the Star Wars franchise: (1) The Empire Strikes Back; (2) The Force Awakens; (3) Revenge of the Sith; (4) A New Hope; (5) Return of the Jedi; (6) Attack of the Clones; and (7) The Phantom Menace.
I really only have one beef with The Force Awakens, and it is the fact that JJ Abrams will not be returning for future films in the trilogy; Mr. Abrams batted nearly 1.000 in his one-and-only Star Wars appearance. For starters, in terms of storytelling, the script is both reminiscent of the original trilogy and polar opposite of the prequel trilogy—in all the best ways. Abrams and his screenwriting team give us humor, snappy dialogue, action, and thrills, all which evoke the greatest moments of the past Star Wars films, all without much input at all from George Lucas—that is impressive. 
Abrams clearly knows his Star Wars history, and he gives us plenty of callbacks to the past six films; the truly remarkable part is that he does so without bordering on schlock, which would be easy to do. We get the classic duo of Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), a prominent cameo from the Millennium Falcon, a melted Darth Vader mask, and appearances by Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), C-3PO, and, my personal fave, R2-D2. Despite the eminence of so many vintage Star Wars figures, Abrams’s real triumph stems from his creation of a wealth of new characters that are more than worthy to carry on this historic film franchise.
Speaking of those new characters, we had a bunch of worthwhile rookies. Golden Globe-nominated actor Oscar Isaac stars as Poe Dameron, an X-wing fighter pilot for the Resistance that is heralded as the best in the galaxy. Emmy-nominated Adam Driver plays Kylo Ren, a commander of the First Order and an aspiring successor to the Darth Vader legacy. Newcomers Daisy Ridley and John Boyega star as Rey and Finn, respectively—Rey is a scavenger from Jakku in search of her family, and Finn is a First Order stormtrooper who decides to abandon his position. Despite being a big fan of Oscar Isaac, I admit that I did not connect much with his character—he was kind of boring to be honest. 
Luckily, the rest of the cast carried the film with ease. I absolutely love Adam Driver as the newest bad boy of the Star Wars universe. His character is incredibly complex, possessing evil and torturous, yet anxious and sensitive qualities—Driver nails the nuances of each and every trait. Kylo Ren is also a downright badass character because of (1) a mask that rivals that of Darth Vader; and (2) one of the greatest light sabers anyone has ever seen.
Ridley and Boyega also impress in their respective roles. Ridley’s Rey may or may not be the daughter of Luke Skywalker (the film sure does imply that, yet, maybe it is a red herring), but she definitely occupies many of Luke’s behavioral traits, not the least of which is her affinity for inherent Jedi powers—the force is definitely strong with this one. In addition to seeming much like Luke, she also at times seems like the new Han Solo—she is completely self-sufficient and is as rogue as they come. 
Boyega’s Finn was one of my favorite characters from the new film. Finn’s personality is evocative of C-3PO, in that he is incredibly worrisome and always the first to panic when danger arises; it is in these ways that Finn is the funniest character of the movie. Luckily, Abrams brilliantly ensures that Finn’s character never becomes a mere caricature. I also loved R2-D2’s successor, the charmingly unique droid BB-8. BB-8 is a spherical droid with a free-moving domed head, and he is the perfect addition to a long history of classic droids in the Star Wars franchise.
The latter will first feature Rogue One, set just before the events of A New Hope, and after that two stand-alone “origin” films about both Han Solo and Boba Fett. Starting this year, the Anthology films will be released every other year, which is meant to complement the sequel trilogy’s same every-other-year schedule. Although it will be great to get so much new Star Wars material, I am cautious because it makes the series more susceptible to people getting completely burned out, considering a Star Wars movie will be released once a year between 2015 and 2020. Only time will tell. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence.
The Reel Countdown 