Archive. Quick Review.

This slice of indie sci-fi was introduced to this critic as the debut feature from the visual effects supervisor on Duncan Jones contemporary masterpiece Moon. anyone affiliated with that project is going to gain this viewers interest. New director Gavin Rothery was no exception. Having seen the final product it’s very easy to see where Rothery took influence from. It stars Divergents Theo James as an engineer who is a near-future is contracted by a company for his robot building services. Watchers follow him as he works on his most advanced AI yet. The narrative puts more focus on the evolution of the central characters engineering skills than the psychological trauma and loneliness of his situation ( as with Moon.) This production welds that previous film together with Alex Garlands Ex Machina. Especially with the former example, some of them sat design and decoration are almost identical. That’s not to say the film is a rip-off. Rothery knows what elements of these two contemporary sci-fi classics to take and meld into his work. The result is very solid throughout even if it doesn’t transcend its very obvious influences. There’s an argument that it doesn’t need to. This kind of movie is likely to be discovered by viewers who are already fans of this productions influences. If this is the case this critic would say they’re in for a fairly solid if not revolutionary slice of modern science fiction. Similarly, if a viewer sees this film enjoys it but hasn’t seen the two clear inspirations it could be a very easy jumping on point into either film. The success in being able to extrapolate the core of what makes these storeys so effective at their best certainly cements Rothery as a potentially interesting genre filmmaker. His offering is certainly better than the two features Duncan Jones has made in the ten years since he was established as an exciting prospect with his first two features. This critic has always believed he has another fantastic film in him. for the time being it might be worth seeing what one of his proteges has to offer in the future.
7/10