Stars: Domnhall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, Alicia Vikander | Written and Directed by Alex Garland
It’s rare these days to find a sci-fi that doesn’t bog you down in condescending exposition for the first half an hour, boring you senseless with background and character history to the point that you’re unlikely to care all that much when the story proper kicks in. Last year’s Lucy was a prime example of this: the movie kept explaining its ridiculous plot to you despite the fact that no-one’s ever gone into a Luc Besson movie expecting complex, intelligent storytelling. 2014′s other sci-fi starring Scarlett Johansson, Under The Skin, however, is a masterclass in understatement and trusting the audience to comprehend the story without it being spoon-fed to them.
I say all this because, thankfully, Ex Machina is much closer to the latter than the former in its storytelling. Though there is a lot more dialogue.
It’s rare these days to find a sci-fi that doesn’t bog you down in condescending exposition for the first half an hour, boring you senseless with background and character history to the point that you’re unlikely to care all that much when the story proper kicks in. Last year’s Lucy was a prime example of this: the movie kept explaining its ridiculous plot to you despite the fact that no-one’s ever gone into a Luc Besson movie expecting complex, intelligent storytelling. 2014′s other sci-fi starring Scarlett Johansson, Under The Skin, however, is a masterclass in understatement and trusting the audience to comprehend the story without it being spoon-fed to them.
I say all this because, thankfully, Ex Machina is much closer to the latter than the former in its storytelling. Though there is a lot more dialogue.
- 1/24/2015
- by Mark Allen
- Nerdly
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