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Artificially Created

If I accomplish anything with this review of "Morgan," it's to remind you about one of last year's great movies called "Ex Machina." I almost don't even want waste time talking about "Morgan," because it's not a film worthy of our time or serious consideration. But, if you haven't seen "Ex Machina," it's available on Amazon Prime or on a gorgeous DTS-X-encoded Blu-ray Disc. If you have seen it, watch it again!

I bring up "Ex Machina" because I take any chance I can to talk about that stunning film. Also, it's the movie director Luke Scott  - son of Sir Ridley - seems to be aspiring to create here. "Morgan" is a disposable tale of artificial intelligence that begs to be compared to the superior "Ex Machina."  Thematically, it's kind of similar - just stripped of all the allure that made last year's film so great.

As it goes, Morgan (Anya Taylor-Joy, of this year's "The Witch") is a lab-created artificial humanoid, who is the proud design of a group of scientists. Overseeing the project is Dr. Simon Ziegler (Toby Jones), whose team runs from the stoic, no-nonsense Dr. Lui Cheng (Michelle Yeoh) to the naïve Amy Menser (Rose Lesie), who has a strong bond with Morgan.

Things go awry when Morgan violently attacks one of the behavior specialists (Jennifer Jason Leigh). To assess to attack, Lee Weathers (Kate Mara) is sent by the nondescript "Corporate" as their risk management representation. She's an ice queen in a pantsuit, all business and not phased by the chaos that reigns in the lab.

While "Morgan" is the skeleton of better films with greater ideas, that's not its main problem. The film is actively boring, taking just under an hour in exposition before anything substantial happens. To liven things up, the great Paul Giamatti comes in a chews up the scenery briefly but he can't even bring this dud to life.

It's also concerning that the most interesting performance in "Morgan" is from Joy, who is supposed to be playing an emotionally stunted AI. With the success of "The Witch," praise that I did not join in on, Joy is crafting an interesting screen persona. Her performance in "Morgan" is the most complex thing happening in a very simplistic film. Everyone else phones-in their performance with blantant disinterest.

Summer season has ended and early September is always a questionable time at the movies. There's rarely a surprise and not much out that people want to rush to. "Morgan" isn't worth your money or time by any means. It's just the garbage we have to endure before we enter the looming awards season.

One last thing - did I mention you should watch "Ex Machina"?