A resourcefully stylish indie sci-fi entry from Britain, \"The Machine\" drapes sleek visuals over an artificial intelligence tale set in a top-secret British government facility where robots are being developed to fight a cold war with China. <\/p>\n
Empathic computer genius Vincent (Toby Stephens) has more on his mind, however, than creating a weapon-strength, self-aware being for his military boss (Denis Lawson). Vincent imagines a revolutionary future in which the brain-damaged (be they wounded soldiers or his medically afflicted daughter) are given their humanity again. <\/p>\n
That makes Vincent's breakthrough the Machine (Caity Lotz), an aerodynamic hot bod of a robot who can flip, fight and care deeply into a moral battleground of sorts. With her slick-backed hair, Lotz is a cyberblond right out of Hitchcock's dystopian fantasies. <\/p>\n
PHOTOS: Box office top 10 of 2013 <\/p>\n
Writer-director Caradog W. James is so enamored by the coolly designed future aesthetics of movies like \"A Clockwork Orange\" and \"Blade Runner\" that his metaphoric dark-and-darker lighting can get the best of him. (Being able to see an actor's face has been known to be effective.) But even with a cut-and-dried approach to characterization and the issue of man-made consciousness, \"The Machine\" percolates with an elegantly palpable sense of wonder and danger. <\/p>\n
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\"The Machine\" <\/p>\n
MPAA rating: Rated R for violence and language <\/p>\n
Running time: 1 hour, 31 minutes <\/p>\n
Playing: At the Arena Cinema, Hollywood <\/p>\n
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Review: 'The Machine' conjures a stylish sense of wonder, danger<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A resourcefully stylish indie sci-fi entry from Britain, \"The Machine\" drapes sleek visuals over an artificial intelligence tale set in a top-secret British government facility where robots are being developed to fight a cold war with China. Empathic computer genius Vincent (Toby Stephens) has more on his mind, however, than creating a weapon-strength, self-aware being for his military boss (Denis Lawson). Vincent imagines a revolutionary future in which the brain-damaged (be they wounded soldiers or his medically afflicted daughter) are given their humanity again Continue reading