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Sound Off: Alex Garland's Sci-Fi 'Ex Machina' - What Did You Think?

by Alex Billington
April 10, 2015

Now that you've seen it, what did you think? There is nothing more human than the will to survive. In theaters in the US starting today is the feature directorial debut of sci-fi screenwriter Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Sunshine, Dredd), a film called Ex Machina about a man and his creation. Oscar Isaac stars as Nathan, the billionaire founder of a technology company, along with Domhnall Gleeson as Caleb, a young programmer brought to Nathan's home to test one of his new robots. Alicia Vikander plays Ava, an artificial intelligence humanoid designed by Nathan that Caleb is instructed to test, to see just how real she really is. Once you've seen it, leave a comment below with your own thoughts on Alex Garland's Ex Machina.

Spoiler Warning: We strongly urge everyone to actually see the film before reading ahead, as there may be spoilers below. We also encourage all commenters to keep major spoilers from the film to a minimum, if possible. However, this is an open discussion from this point on! Beware of spoilers, don't ruin this movie!

To fuel the fire, I really really enjoyed Ex Machina (and as much as it wants to be compared to Chappie and Transcendence, I'll do my best not to). It's a thought-provoking, edgy, provocative, and entertaining sci-fi thriller with some nice twists to it. First things first, it's an impressive achievement in terms of pulling off the robo- dynamics of Ava, both from the work of Alicia Vikander (who is outstanding) and the VFX work that makes it all seamless. And I admire the way it's setup is this very labyrinthine yet sophisticated house, with some weird things going on and yet a beautiful backdrop, too. Next, I have to say I like the way the film literally asks questions. I couldn't wait to get back to the sessions and see what Caleb and Ava would talk about. And that was part of the beautiful setup of the story, the crazy twists and how it plays out at the end.

There's plenty to discuss and debate about the film, so have at it, since that's what intrigues me the most - the way it asks so many interesting questions that make you think about everything. I wrote in my review of the film: "With Ex Machina, Alex Garland shows that he's just as talented as a director as he is a writer, and that he should definitely keep challenging the science fiction genre. Maybe we need more filmmakers like this who won't hold back, who will ask tough questions, and make us think about ourselves." Your thoughts?

What did you think of Alex Garland's Ex Machina? Provocative, fascinating or just terrible?
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