“Ex Machina” really wants to be a smart sci-fi but it is a boring film. It features many ideas and concepts that we have already seen in a several sci-fi films such as “2001: A Space Odyssey”, “A.I. Artificial Intelligence”, “Blade Runner” and “Bicentennial Man”. It has some crafty twists and turns yet I had no interest in the movie as a whole.

In “Ex Machina”, Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson “Frank”, “About Time”) is a young programmer invited to spend some time with his reclusive boss (Oscar Isaac “The Nativity Story”) at his mountain home. Caleb finds he is to take part in an extension of the ‘Turing test’ as he must evaluate an android (Alicia Vikander “The Danish Girl”).

The Caleb character is really dull and I found it hard to care about him. The robot, named Ava, looks absolute terrible. The special effects are not remotely impressive.  The robot only has skin covering her face and hands while the rest of it looks mechanical so it becomes a combination of preposterous and sad when Caleb begins to find himself attracted to Ava. The robot is manipulative but so is the boss so we question why Caleb does not just try to leave.

“Ex Machina” is not a visually stimulating film as we spend most of our time stuck in a few rooms where characters just sit and talk. That would be fine if the characters were interesting and/or likeable. There are a few clever parts thrown in here but so much of the movie just felt awkward. Also, the movie features lots of nudity, which comes across as a pitiful substitute for better characters and better writing. “Ex Machina” has received rave reviews and while it certainly is not among the worst sci-fi movies I have seen, it’s still bad.