Dark futurism seen through a gritty pulp fiction lens, indie-powered “The Machine” delivers.
As a fan of great British science fiction, from “Quartermass and the Pit,” to “Day of the Triffids,” I’ve been eye-balling this new export for some time now. After reading its synopsis I came away thinking that this production might turn out to be an overly derivative grab-bag of similar, far superior fare. However, after finally seeing it, I must say that there is enough fresh air in its sails to carry it over the choppy waters of contemporary speculative fiction on its own merits.
Upstart Welsh film-maker Caradog James paints a near-future dystopian world where Western powers are locked into a cold war with China. Dr. Vincent McCarthy, played by Toby Stephens, in a role eerily similar to the morally compromised mad-scientist Dr. Dennett Norton (Gary Oldman) of the recent “Robocop“ remake, designs devices which help brain-damaged military personnel for the UK’s Ministry of Defense.
Mr. Stephens renders a solid performance as a man on the verge of insanity who is consumed with the advance of technology, while giving a backseat to the larger moral and ethical ramifications of unlocking the world’s real Pandora’s Box; artificial intelligence. He is also driven by his ailing daughter who suffers from Rett Syndrome, whom he believes might be able to be saved by utilizing cutting edge technological applications.
Vincent’s military boss, Thompson (Denis Lawson), begins to takeover the project, and and move it into a more martial direction: Designing super-soldiers for military applications. Soon, after a brief (perhaps too much so) introduction, he teams up with bright new recruit and fellow-brilliant researcher Ava (Caity Lotz).
Vincent and his team are able to manufacture human-looking cyborg chasses but lack one fundamental component; a faux brain in order to bring it to life. Coincidentally, Ava just happens to be developing an advanced artificial consciousness, and together they create a new “life form” reminiscent of Metropolis’s metallic matriarch; Maria.
