The Machine (2013)

Ex_Machina is a good movie but The Machine completely outclasses it.

I'm not really the type that overlooks imperfections or details nor am I someone that gives praise without caveats, however Caity Lotz performance in this movie is the kind that they should be giving Oscars for rather than the minute variations on the same old theme that is so often regurgitated in what the people with the votes consider an "oscar worthy" performance...

Both the movie character and Caity Lotz performance is original, subtle and genuine in a way that only rarely make it as far as even being nominated for the brain rot that to a large extent has been the academy awards for so long.

This movie is one of the few on my list of favorite movies(Thale, Age of Adaline, Mr Right, Watchmen, V for Vendetta) based on story/performance alone rather than action and effects, and I would even put it in the absolute top 3.

Thoroughly recommended.

Fmovies: This film was amazing very thought provoking and enjoyable to watch. As it was an independent film I feel it is worth of more praise.

If you like Sci-Fi thriller type films you will not be disappointed. I felt it was very well directed and cast excellently. The story is very innovative in my opinion and it made me think about how people would really react in a world like that. I believe the film perfectly depicts how humans exploit their environment and creations.

I thought that Caity Lotz' performance was particularly excellent, I feel she acted a human in a robotic body very well. Her mannerisms were very machine like with the added flair of humanity. The facial expressions she uses are very mechanical but still show feeling, which is how I imagine a machine learning how to become more human would act.

This is my first ever review so that shows how much I enjoyed it, and this is only my opinion so you should go see it your self so you can make your own judgment. Well done to everyone involved in the film I want to see more films like this. Thank you for reading.

The premise or the science fiction genre as a whole presents many pitfalls incautious screenwriters may fall into, I think. This movie avoids said pitfalls elegantly. I watched this movie without having read much about it and I urge you to do the same. Caity Lotz really shines as the character Ada and I had only seen Toby Stephens in the movie Severance previous to this one. I love it when filmmakers know that the role of Main Character, Hero and Protagonist can be defined by multiple characters in the story. Speaking of the characters of the plot, they are all well written and have motives that are believable, which is imperative to make the movie believable. It's easy to see the love the makers of this film has for the genre and they treat it with respect and great care. I see elements from many of my favorite sci-fi movies and TV-series (Bladerunner, The Matrix, Terminator, Ghost in the Shell and Ergo Proxy to name a few...) not to mention much from some really great science fiction literature out there. I'd love to discuss the plot deeper but I will not as I don't want to impair your viewing pleasure. Now go and watch it.

The Machine fmovies. For a movie made under a small budget, this was a thoroughly enjoyable movie with some interesting thoughts on AI and what may ultimately serve to differentiate humans and machines. I found the acting to be superb. Toby Stephens did a good job of handling his role without too much angst. Caity Lotz played two separate roles as the scientist (Ava) and the machine. The machine character evolves from a developing child to a bad ass machine. If you watch the movie more than once, you will notice the subtle changes as the character develops I was impressed to learn that she did all of her own stunts! Pooneh H is the director's wife and did a good job as a menacing guard and her Farsi served as the language of the robots. Dennis Lawson was also quite good as the villain.

There are 34 external reviews also listed for this movie and I found them helpful in giving a more comprehensive (and in many cases, a more sophisticated) review of the movie. Although I wholeheartedly recommend this movie, it couldn't hurt to get a bigger sampling of reviews if you have any questions.

I very much enjoyed this. There's nothing particularly novel about the story line, which is a standard AI old chestnut about what happens when AIs start getting rambunctious. But the script is literate, the leads quite attractive (especially Dennis Lawson as a baddie), the direction sharp, and the photography brilliant, so it's all eminently watchable. Caity Lotz in particular is a revelation--she's great. Plus there's the fun wrinkle of watching the AI soldiers troop around, as it were, speaking their own language, wondering what they're saying (although as the film goes on it starts becoming clear). Predictable, but in a good way.

The Machine is a rather successful attempt at implementing hard science fiction tendencies with a cyberpunk aesthetic. It may not be particularly adroit in terms of human and AI relationships, but I appreciate the rigor of the scientific explanation for the artificial intelligence. The film really excels at this in the beginning when Vincent conducts his own Turing tests as part of a secret headhunting operation. Then as he meets Ava things start taking a problematic turn. The military-industrial complex is invoked, but its purpose is sort of shadowy and never is contextualized in a way that would make the narrative more coherent.

The questioning of human identity is the strongest point of the film, but I suppose that, at the very core, this film was more interested in being a thriller, rather than an exploration of the philosophical concepts.