Ex Machina is a powerful movie posing existential questions — which the director said was surprisingly easy to make.
Courtesy of SXSW [https://schedule.sxsw.com/2015/events/event_FS17780]
What does it mean to be human? Viewers are forced to ponder this existential question and more in Ex Machina, a stunning science fiction thriller that began garnering buzz long before it hit European theaters in January.
Ahead of its highly anticipated U.S. release on April 10, SXSW Film attendees got a sneak peek of the movie that compels audiences to reflect on their own humanity. Actor Oscar Isaac told CultureMap that the festival was the perfect place for a screening because of the huge technology scene.
The story centers around an intelligent computer programmer (played by Domhnall Gleeson) who is asked to study a gorgeous robot woman. Her artificial intelligence is so convincing, in fact, she even caused a stir on Tinder during SXSW.
Despite a dense plot, intense marketing ploys and potential existential crises, writer and director Alex Garland said making the film was easier than it looks — and it looks amazing. "This is the easiest film I've worked on. By miles," Garland told us on the red carpet.
The story was different for those in front of the camera. "There was a bit of a challenge for the actors," Garland said. "We had to shoot it in six weeks, which is quick. So for them, there was a lot pressure to sort of get things right fast so we can move on."
Watch our interview with Garland above, and check out quick red carpet snippets from Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson.
In this Hollywood era of franchises, finding one to call their own is a priority for many movie stars. Over 30 years into his career, Ben Affleck had yet to find one; he did star as Batman in multiple movies, but that role has been interchangeable. He seemed to get a prime action hero role with 2016’s The Accountant, but somehow it’s taken nine years for The Accountant 2 to come out.
Affleck’s character of Christian Wolff is a high-functioning autistic man whose abilities to quickly and efficiently comb through mounds of data are matched only by his fighting skills. When Ray King (J.K. Simmons), a former Treasury agent who had previously hunted Christian, is murdered, King’s replacement, Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), calls on Christian to help figure out what happened and track down his killer.
The search quickly finds multiple criminal conspiracies, including a hitman ring, a scheme to abduct migrants, and more. Naturally, Wolff claims to need help in the endeavor, so his mercenary brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal) soon joins in on the quest. The two brothers work together to figure out the puzzle while also stopping to have some fun every now and then.
Directed by Gavin O’Connor and written by Bill Dubuque (both returning from the original), the film feels like it is missing many connective scenes. It often starts down one road and seems to be making good progress when it suddenly veers into another storytelling lane with no explanation. This happens multiple times throughout the film, to the point that it becomes almost impossible to tell what the main story is supposed to be.
In the first film, the oddity of having an autistic math genius also being a world-class marksman and fighter somehow made sense. This film leans much more into Christian’s physical skills, with the autistic side of things showing up in his (mostly) emotionless demeanor. While that works to a certain degree, the choppiness of the story undercuts the character traits that Affleck does his best to impart.
The best examples of the messiness of the film come in the multiple scenes that serve as nothing more than comic relief, with not even an attempt at connecting them to the main plot, such as it is. Two of them involve Christian proving himself to be a ladies man despite his lack of conversational skills, both of which fall flat as they seem to be making fun of his autism rather than highlighting positive aspects of it. Each of the comic scenes is so disparate in tone from the rest of the film that they essentially bring the story to a screeching halt.
Affleck is fine in the part, although he’s much better when Christian turns toward action hero mode than when he has to display the character’s autistic traits. Bernthal is great at being an over-the-top macho guy, and he gets to indulge that side of him throughout the film. Addai-Robinson is disserved by a role that doesn’t give her character any autonomy despite her high-powered position.
Affleck’s career has been one of the most up-and-down ones of any supposed A-list actor, and The Accountant 2 marks another down moment for him. He may have finally gotten his first sequel for a film in which he’s the main character, but don’t expect there to be a third installment.
