Sunday, September 18, 2016

63.) Morgan [9/8/2016]

In 2015, Ex Machina was one of my favorite movies (might have been my #1 movie of the year, but I can't be asked to go and find out), and Morgan is along that same vein: an artificial intelligence housed in the body of something young and feminine looking (the amazing Alicia Vikander in Ex Machina and Anna Taylor-Joy in Morgan). The idea is that the AI has shown a tendency towards dangerous behavior and an outsider needs to be brought in to determine whether or not the project is viable (Domhnall Gleason and Kate Mara, respectively).

The movies seem to be built on identical plot structures, though the differ in key areas: the handlers of Morgan feel something akin to love for their project, while Oscar Isaac is far more sadistic in how he handles Ava; the reasons for building the AI projects are vastly different (any more would give away too much of both plots); and the AI interacts much different in both movies.

There is some insightful gender criticism to be made here, especially in Morgan where the key interaction is between two women (a rarity in movies, as is, to say nothing of a movie in which one woman is definitely a captive, dangerous person). Certainly, books have been written about how women and androids can easily be conflated, and this film (or these films) will definitely add to that conversation. In all, I really enjoyed this movie.

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