'Ex Machina' trailer is a work of art

Posted Tuesday, March 3, 2015 at 4:19 PM Central
Last updated Wednesday, March 4, 2015 at 8:30 AM Central

by John Couture

I'm often quite impressed with Tim's prescient abilities. In January, he predicted that Ex Machina would be a sleeper hit film in 2015.

At the time, I was intrigued by Ex Machina, but I wasn't completely blown away. That's sometimes the biggest problem in picking sleeper hits. There are no real known quantities with these films. For most of our selections, we are lucky if there is a poster or a vague synopsis available for them and yet, we do have a pretty good track record of picking some pretty kick ass sleepers.

It's no secret how I feel about today's state of trailers. They are rubbish. For the most part, they are a waste of time and effort. Trailers either give away too much or not enough or simply miss the point as to what they are supposed to convey. The best trailers get you interested/excited/intrigued about the film they are advertising.

Most trailers today are so lost that many of them are unrecognizable from the finished film. That's a tragic, but true statement. But, the trailer for Ex Machina is different.

This isn't Jurassic World where everyone and their mother could tell you what they are going to see and be about 90% accurate. No, this is an original film in which the trailer has the additional burden of making you care at all about the film and the characters.

This trailer does this with such brilliance and efficiency that you're left at the end wanting to see more right away. And that, my friends, is the ultimate goal of any good trailer. At first blush, you might not recognize any of the talent on screen, but there's actually two Star Wars: The Force Awakens stars there in Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Issac. And yes, Alicia Vikander who plays Ava is a relatively unknown actress, but you can't help but feel that this won't be true for very long after this film comes out.

The idea is so simple and yet so complex. There are elements of human psychology and real world implications as we become increasingly reliant upon computers and machines in our day-to-day lives. There are overt themes that draw inspiration from 2001 and Frankenstein and yet, there's an overriding sense that not everything is on the up and up.

I have a feeling that there's going to be a huge twist in there and if so, then my appreciation of this trailer will only grow that much more. Ex Machina is in theaters on April 10.