Ex Machina Vs Kingsman

So how about it? Reviewing two films in one review. I do like a challenge.

Ex Machina vs Kingsman. Sci-fi vs action. Where do I start?

Well I do like top trumps so let’s start there.

	Ex Machina	Kingsman
Style	4	4.5
Storyline	4	4
Acting	4	3.5
Entertainment value	3	5
Special Effects	4.5	4.5

Ex-Machina starts out like we are going on an adventure. And it is exciting. We feel we are making a great discovery. The inventor, Nathan seems to have a bit of a drink problem but has also made the most interesting invention of all time. An AI. Caleb is lucky enough to have been chosen from Nathan’s vast empire of workers. He is here to see if he can tell if the AI can think alone.  For me, someone who has studied psychology, I found this interaction fascinating. Who wouldn’t want to try this? Test out an AI? I would be volunteering and first in line.

But I do have problems with this film. Firstly how much Nathan drinks. I don’t believe anyone would choose to keep getting that wasted. And he is sleeping with what turns out to be an earlier version of an AI.  Tell me, if you are a man, making an AI and there are no limits, would you not make a woman who had ‘Lara Croft’ sized breasts? Be honest. Yes you would.  I felt this film had some good special effects but the women kept showing a huge amount of nudity that didn’t really make any difference to the storyline.

The ending left me questioning what happened to Caleb? Is he alive? Could he get to food? Would he slowly starve? How long could Ava (the AI) survive without being identified in the real world?

So I left that cinema feeling frustrated and a bit disappointed.

Kingsman. A modern day James Bond film? The film opened to Dire Straits’ ‘money for nothing’ which really worked with the action scene.  It is a great action scene and really tells us the story of what the Kingman are without needing to know too much.

Eggsy’s dad used to be a Kingman but saved his colleagues by sacrificing his own life. When Eggsy gets into trouble  he uses his get out of jail free card and meets Harry (played by Colin Firth) who is every bit a Kingsman.  So you can tell where this is going. It has a feel of ‘Men in Black’ about it but I still enjoyed the journey.

Every James Bond character needs its Blofeld baddie and this is no exception. Samuel L Jackson gives a great performance with a lisp in his character, Valentine.  His number two is called Gazelle. Not only by name but actually she has a disability and has legs like Oscar Pistorius. Except her legs have swords on them and can easily cut a man in two.

The film keeps a good pace and is really enjoyable – I like the idea that Valentine is giving out free sim cards for free calls and internet forever. I would never fall for a free card but many would. And of course Valentine is the baddie; his idea to save the world is to cull the amount of people. The cards can trigger a violent button in humans that makes them all want to kill each other.

Spoiler Alert: How can they kill Harry? Could they not afford to keep on Colin Firth for a whole film? It is such a shame.

I also wasn’t very impressed that Eggsy, who has a common London accent, puts on a suit and suddenly speaks the Queen’s English!

But there are some great learning tips. Want to sleep with a princess? Just let her out of a prison cell. (Yes James Bond has probably done this) but then she ups the ante.  Save the world and you get to give it to me up the bum! Okay I am paraphrasing, but you know he is gonna save the world! Not sure James Bond did that!

Both films are great in their own unique way but for pure entertainment I would say Kingsman wins by a tinsy bit.

Go and see both films. They are both worth your money.

And I’m off to Saville row just to see if the Kingsman tailor really exists.