68% on Rotten Tomatoes
We are finally reunited with the Barden Bellas, our favourite acapella group! We see them in their senior year, after a string of successful performances and wins over the previous years. BUT!!! The film kicks off with a really unfortunate mishap that spirals the Barden Bellas into nearly being banned from performing again, signalling the end of the acapella group. The rest of the film then follows the Bellas as they desperately try to regain their credibility by trying to win the world championships.
Okay, so first things first. If you liked Pitch Perfect, and if you were remotely interested in Pitch Perfect 2, you will like Pitch Perfect 2.
Of course it's not the best movie out there, and it's not as great as its ancestor, but it's a pretty good sequel to a popular movie, and no one is watching Pitch Perfect 2 to dissect and analyse. You go in wanting to have some good laughs and fangirl over Anna Kendrick, and you get some good laughs and a great dose of Anna Kendrick.
The acapella in this was great, especially from Das Sound Machine. Rebel Wilson had more time to shine in this film, and you will be able to laugh throughout the whole film.
On the downside, some of the scenes dragged out for too long, and went from awkwardly funny to just awkward. The storyline also got a bit complicated, with some unnecessary 'side quests' (I don't know how else to explain it; Aca-camp just seemed like a secondary adventure and Bella's internship gets no mention at the end) and a lot of side romances being introduced that only meant the neglect of Bella and Jesse's relationship.
However, as I said, if you were even slightly keen to watch Pitch Perfect 2, you would like this movie. The film made me laugh, the songs were enjoyable, and Anna Kendrick is so beautiful that we can overlook these negativities. But if you're not that keen, save your money and watch it on the TV or something.
A few side notes:
92% on Rotten Tomatoes
Ex Machina focuses on Caleb, a programmer who wins a competition to visit a retreat owned by the boss of his company. However, upon arriving, he soon discovers that this is no holiday, but actually an experiment. Caleb's job here is to test an artificial intelligence, in the form of an attractive female robot, and determine whether or not she can pass off as a human.
Firstly, this film is quite an indie film (it didn't even play at Event Cinemas), and I'm not familiar with indie movies, but it was pretty well executed. They didn't have much marketing going for it, but the trailer looked good enough for me to be interested. Their marketing stunt on Tinder was also pretty impressive, and so by the time I went to the cinema I was pretty hyped (also because I had never been to Dendy before and it was a really weird experience - they didn't even have allocated seating; it was a massive free-for-all!).
Anyway, the film doesn't mess around; it dives straight into the plot. At the beginning of the film you already get the feeling of it being about technology; you can understand how everything links to technology, with everyone being monitored.
Whilst the film throughout was intense, the pacing was actually a bit slow. Sometimes, this made it even more intense, but other times it seemed to just drag out too long. However, seeing as this is an indie film, I guess it's nothing to be surprised about.
The actors were also fantastic. Domhnall Gleeson as Caleb was pretty good; there was no hint of him being the same person as he was in About Time (2013), mainly because of the accent, but still. He actually looked really cute in this film too, something I didn't notice in About Time. Oscar Isaac was also great; I'm really excited for everything he's going to be doing in these next few years (X-Men: Apocalypse as Apocalypse and Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens).
However, the person who stole the limelight was Alicia Vikander as Ava, the artificially intelligent robot. This girl absolutely killed this role, like everything about her performance was fantastic. She was beautiful, but there was always this unsettling sense about her like something wasn't quite right, whether it was her mesmerising voice or her just-a-tad-off hair or whatever. She pulled this role off perfectly.
Can we also just appreciate the fact that this was director Alex Garland's FIRST FILM. Like, EVER. He has never directed anything in his life except this. That is pretty darn amazing, Garland.
The movie is also a very quotable movie. My favourite quote is when Caleb tells Nathan, "If you've created a conscious machine, it's not the history of man. It's the history of gods."
There is also no way you could watch this movie without thinking of Frankenstein or Bladerunner if you analysed those texts for HSC. Honestly, I bet that in 20 years' time, people will be analysing Ex Machina compared to Frankenstein. All the themes were visible: What makes us human? Can robots be more human than human? Should humans try and be like God, creating life? And more importantly... Why does everything seem to relate to that darned Prometheus?!
In the end, this film was a good film. It was creepy, and made you (or maybe just me) shiver like crazy. Would I watch it again? Not in the near future. Would I recommend it? Well, it's hard to say. The slow pacing of the film, and the fact that it's an indie film that wasn't even released in Event Cinemas, means that it's inherently not for everyone. I'm not too sure how much I would enjoy it upon a second viewing, and I'm not too sure how a lot of people would enjoy it upon their first. If you are interesting in AI (as in Artificial Intelligence, not Al-fred or something), or you are sort of interested in this film, I think it is a good film to check out, but it won't be to everyone's taste.
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