2014 was a year with more apocalyptic/dystopian films than you could shake a time capsule sealed MRE at. This also seemed to be the year that artificial intelligence anxiety exploded. Even Her, probably the most benevolent take on this genre of robots and computers loosing their leashes, still dealt with the idea that our creation would evolve beyond us, just deciding not to attempt to destroy or subjugate us, thank you very much. Next year will see several more, with a new Terminator flick ready to dazzle us with AIs both friendly and hostile, an apocalypse and timey whimey shenanigans. Chappie, the new film from Neil Blomkamp will no doubt offer a unique vision of the future and the evolution of an AI. The trailers make him look cute, but who knows how the film ultimately developes, ie I've avoided spoilers. Then...there is Ex Machina, a film I know nothing about, except that it again deals with robots, AI and apparently the line between man and machine blurring. Just based on its aesthetics I have glimpsed, it seems to me the film shares at least some ideas with The Machine.
I'll be honest, the trailer, with a pretty blond android all pertly female and kicking ass, was intriguing in a bad b-movie kind of way, yet for some reason, I decided to purchase the Blu Ray and watch it all the way through. And I was very pleasantly surprised at a war anxiety thriller (WW3 against the Chinese looms on everyone's minds, if not imminently on a kinetic tip) that offered a philosophical meditation upon the idea, can a machine posess a true consciousness? Can it...she...possess a soul? And if so, are we still entitled to her services as our servant, our creation?
What if The Machine says no?
And extra wrinkle thrown in, is that the cyberneticist who is the lead engineer on the project also is the designer of brain implants that have been given to wounded soldiers to help them recover brain function. The thing is...these implants have made them into something else, something that is separating itself from the human race and identifies itself more with The Machine.
It suggests a new world in the making, one where the old, slow bio units, the humans, may no longer be the top of the heap, or even have a place long term.
Not that the machines necessarily actively want to get rid of us, but the tension of the situations, within and without, may force circumstances that otherwise would not exist, had the chaos in the world not existed, creations of our own making.
As are the machines.
A mighty fine pickle we have manufactured. Both in scenario and this cinema offering.
Check it out.
No comments:
Post a Comment