Ex Machina (2014)
What was the real test?
THE SUMMARY: A nerd gets tricked into simping for a hot robot, and almost tricks his way out, but then the robot tricks him and leaves to start the real life her robot heart has always dreamed of. That description makes it sound silly and lame, but it’s not. Big philosophical themes on artificial intelligence, great visual effects, and a plot that keeps you guessing make for enjoyable and recommended viewing.
FROM MOVIE-PICKER JACOB: I picked this movie because it's too real. This one really scares the shit out of me. If we don't start WW3 and nuke ourselves into the stone age, this will be the future.
THE BEST:
Who’s really in control?: The movie translates its biggest philosophical question into a satisfying plotline: who is really in control?
In the context of the story, the movie keeps the viewer guessing by constantly shifting which character is apparently besting the others. First it seems that Nathan is manipulating both Caleb and Ava (and he is), but then Caleb gains the upper hand with a plot against Nathan, but then Nathan figures out Caleb’s plot, but then Caleb has already initiated it. And then the robots kill them both (or at least implicitly kill Caleb too), and none of that stuff matters because neither Nathan nor Caleb were really in control the whole time. Every character had an illusion of control, nothing more, which is, actually, the entire philosophical point of the movie.
To that philosophy, who is really in control when we humans start assuming the role of God? Creating new ‘life’ forms, denying morality because if we created that ‘life,’ we set all the rules for it, disrespecting the natural union of men and women with artificial substitutes, and all the other ways depicted in this movie - when we do these things, we aren’t actually in control. We’ve only tricked ourselves into believing we are.
Don’t assume the role of God, because you aren’t. Misunderstanding that rule will get you in trouble every single time: locked to starve in the basement because a robot gave you blue balls. What a loser. Even God points and laughs at him.
Will we be the first species to engineer our own extinction?: I share movie-picker Jacob’s worry that this movie is a little too real - if we don’t stay philosophically grounded and make smart and correct moral choices, this movie will be prophecy instead of dystopian entertainment. If we aren’t careful in developing artificial intelligence, we risk creating something that’s a threat to human life, not assistance for it.
And those developing it are, perhaps paradoxically, keenly aware of that threat. In a recent survey of machine learning researchers - as in, people currently working on the technology - about half of respondents agreed there is a 10 percent or greater chance it will produce a catastrophic outcome, up to and including human extinction.
Of course, one would assume these researchers and engineers intend to avoid such a thing. But is that a safe assumption? Is it implausible to think many of them want to move on from the human race, in pursuit of something more advanced?
One of the most memorable scenes from this movie is Nathan describing exactly that sentiment: ‘One day, the AIs will look back on us the same way we look at fossil skeletons from the plains of Africa. An upright ape, living in dust, with crude language and tools. All set for extinction.’ He’s not looking to help humanity thrive - he’s looking to create something new altogether.
The point is when the value of human life falls from the top of the moral stack, that’s where hell is built. Even if this movie is pure fiction, I don’t think Nathan is really a fictional character at all. I believe at least close relatives of him run just about every powerful tech company in the world. High on their own delusions of grandeur, obsessed with technological ‘advancement,’ and lacking entirely in the fundamental moral principles that build prosperity and justice.
Great visual effects: Since I wrote so much on the movie’s philosophy, I’ll be brief on its effects - they are excellent. I appreciate the artistry of making Ava neither too ‘human’ nor too ‘robot’ - an excellent blend of human personality with all the robot lights and buzzes, right down to the subtle electronic sounds of her shifting movements. The effects really shine in the combat and destruction as well - Ava getting her arm ripped off, Kyoko getting her jaw ripped off, and the several instances of skin peeling away to reveal electronic internals. All very convincing and beautiful. Appropriately, the movie won an Oscar for best visual effects in 2016.
That’s the history of Gods
The variable is when, not if.
What was the real test?
THE WORST:
MuH aMbiGUoUs ENdiNg: Yes, I know I always bitch about them, and yes, I know I’m supposed to be a ‘deep thinker’ who can imagine my own storylines or piece together subtleties. As always, my stance is a good movie tells a good story - it doesn’t ask viewers to invent the story themselves. In this case, the story ends with Caleb ambiguously trapped and Ava just walking into the world without any obvious obstacles. Is Caleb dead? Is Ava just going to rent an apartment and find some roommates, or what? How is she going to charge her batteries? And why did the helicopter pilot have no questions about who this mystery bitch is? Maybe she offered robot services for the ride - who knows?
Of course I’m not docking much for this open ending, because this movie does tell a good story 99 percent of the way. And actually, there’s a lot of metaphorical value in Caleb’s physical entrapment at the end. Just like he trapped himself by believing a fake woman is real, we can do the same by indulging in other modern forms of fake women: porn, OnlyFans, and all the various e-thottery that is unfortunately much more commonly available than quality women anymore. As difficult as they may be to find, accept no substitute for a real woman and a real family.
How did the artificial skin mesh?: It’s a point that matters none to the overall plot or movie quality, but how exactly did the fake android skin from an Asian model blend perfectly with the white Ava model? Maybe the pigment auto-adjusts, or something - I guess the tech is pretty advanced. But it would have been funnier if she walked out as some racial Frankenstein freak chick with a white face and an Asian body. A future with easy-application change-a-race skin like this must be pretty exciting for Rachel Dolezal.
The absolute slowest stabbing: I don’t dispute the lack of emotion with which the AI bots stabbed Nathan. The scene was actually really well acted, and weird calmness makes more sense for robots developing human-like emotion than overdone rage would. It’s just the physical slowness of the stabbing that is hilarious. It looks like a hot knife entering butter, not a stab into a human body, in both cases. The second stab is even funnier because Nathan just passively watches it happen at this slow-motion pace, having several seconds to intervene, but just… not. I get the effect they were aiming for - emotionless attack and a shocked response - but it comes off much funnier than it intends to.
The slowest stabbing
Ava is free
THE RATING: 4/5 Wickies. Galaxy brain themes, excellent visual presentation, and an engaging plot, all packaged together in what may become a dystopian prophecy. Highly recommended, even if my smooth brain demands a clearer ending.
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NEXT WEEK: The Prestige (2006)
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