These science fiction films should be on your watch list

Date: 8/10/2015

It’s science fiction week in the film review column.

On DVD, at the Red Box and streaming: Ex Machina

The release of this film on home video is particularly timely as there have been recent headlines about how physicist Stephen Hawking and others believe the development of artificial intelligence might just prove to be a real threat to mankind.

That doesn’t make it an exploitation film or some cheapjack robot movie. “Ex Machina” is the exact opposite. It’s a thought provoking, engaging film about the very nature of how to determine if artificial intelligence has been achieved.

Domhall Gleeson plays Caleb, a computer programmer working for the world’s most successful search engine, an enterprise that has made its developer Nathan (Oscar Isaac) a very rich man.

Nathan, though, is much more than a rich man. He is a reclusive genius who lives in a futuristic house deep in a mountainous estate. He has run a contest to bring one of his employees up to stay with him for a week and Caleb is the winner.

Once there, though, Caleb is told his real purpose: to help administer the Turning Test to Nathan’s latest creation a robot with artificial intelligence named Ava (Alicia Vikander). Caleb is first amazed at Ava’s existence and as he speaks with her he realizes that Nathan has indeed made an innovation that will change the world.

The problem is that Caleb sees Ava as a sentient being who is being held prisoner and cannot accept that Nathan intends to deactivate her and dissemble her for further study to develop an even more impressive creation.

While there is a certain level of predictability to the story, writer and director Alex Garland tosses in plenty of twists and turns that makes it intriguing and fresh. What I really liked about it were the discussions between Caleb and Nathan about what Nathan had done. Caleb sees it as a world-changing event. Nathan is more detached and doesn’t seem to understand its implications. It’s like a puzzle he feels compelled to solve, a challenge that feeds his ego.  

Visually the film is stunning in both the sets of the house, the locale in which it’s located and Ava herself. The look and the special effects do not overpower the story, though. This movie is about discovering the nature of humanity and whether or not it can be duplicated.

A significant science fiction film, “Ex Machina” should be on your list to watch.

On Blu-ray and streaming: The Last Survivors

In the realm of science fiction, apocalyptic visions of the future are standard fare and frequently the subject for sprawling epics or action filled stories.

“The Last Survivors” is the exact opposite. This is a film that concentrates on one place and a handful characters and their attempt for survival in a region where water is a rarity.

Set in Oregon in the near future where rain has stopped falling, Kendal (Haley Lu Richardson) and Dean (Booboo Stewart) are two teens who are hiding in an orphanage where they were raised. They are compelled to hide because one man Carson (veteran character actor Jon Gries) is killing off the few people left in the valley so he can control what little water is left in the aquifer.

Caron’s pumping operations have dried up the little wells, such as the one the two teens maintain, forcing them to consider how to escape from the valley and Carson and his men.

First time director Tom Hammock does a solid job presenting a story that has a sharp focus and some real tension. Richardson carries the film, appearing in almost every scene and creates a very believable character.

Although not a classic, this is an entertaining, competently made film – these days that is not faint praise.