Morgan

"Morgan" is the name of an android, a piece of artificial intelligence, created in all secrecy by a team of devout scientists, in a lab somewhere hidden in a remote and forestry region. Before you start praising the downright magnificent make-up effects on the girl, bear in mind it's actress Anya Taylor-Joy's real face. She's a really good and talented young actress, but admittedly she has a bit of a weird face, which - luckily for her - helps to obtain interesting roles as the "outcast-girl" (also in "Split"). Anyways, Morgan is only five years old, but she already looks like an adolescent and she behaves like a spoiled teenager. Lately, there have been serious issues with Morgan, and she even stabbed one of her creators in the eye. Corporate headquarters sends out emotionally numb but highly professional risk-manager Lee Weathers to assess if "Project Morgan" should be terminated or not. Needless to say, Morgan's makers grew to love her as if she were a real child, and they will not accept that's she killed based on an evaluation by an outsider. Director Luke Scott (son of Ridley who made the Sci-Fi landmarks "Alien" and "Blade Runner") initially tries hard to make "Morgan" is a very ambitious, existential and emotionally challenging Sci-Fi/thriller, but he can't prevent that it turns into a rather ordinary 'stalk & slash' type of B-horror. There are a handful of terrific sequences, notably the scene with Paul Giamatti as the obnoxious auditor, but it's ultimately too lightweight to be considered a significant genre effort. Scott Jr. managed to gather an impressive cast (including Brian Cox, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Toby Jones, Paul Giamatti) and the special effects are more than adequate, but I doubt anyone will remember "Morgan" in ten years' time.

It's nothing revolutionary to the genre, but for a low budget Irish film by newb filmmakers, I still enjoyed it, and it's an entertaining one-time watch. There were many decent parts, and the concept worked well, but it got a little sloppy and overambitious by the third act. It lacked cohesion and clarity towards the end, and got a little clunky, cliched and predictable. There were plot and technical issues, but nothing grand outside expected rookie mistakes. The cinematography was great, and had a surprisingly fitting and decent score for a B film. All casting and performances were on point, and the fair pacing made the 92 min runtime fly by. Had the third act been fine-tuned, this easily could've been a great film.

Before anyone reads this, I am glad to read that some movie goers found the movie great. However, this is just my personal take when I saw this film.

Without going into too much detail about what this film entails, I felt as though there were a few moments in the film which could have been better.

1/ The ending was slightly disappointing... and for those who do not understand why then I am sure it will become clear in the end. I just expected more.

2/ I felt as though more connection was needed between Morgan and the audience. I found the clips of her as a child sweet and warming. I even felt sympathy towards her after she had attacked her first and second victims. However, in the end I felt as though I lacked sympathy for her character, after she became more and more out of hand. This also ties into the first point to do with the ending. I was expecting to be moved, riveted. But instead I felt a mixture of "Really... after all that, that's how it ended?", along with a sense of the lack of what I felt was emotion.

3/ I wanted to understand more about why and how the members of staff loved her so much. OK, she was special - but why did they love her the way they did, even after it became clear that she was starting to become dangerous? Why didn't one of them even question themselves over how out of hand things were getting?

Just a couple of points. Apart from that, the film was good enough to hold the majority of my attention throughout and definitely had the potential to be very, very good indeed. Credit where it is due, the film's intentions did seem surprisingly in the right place, but certainly more spark... more depth was needed.

I don't understand why this movie garnered so much hate from some of the reviewers here. I can only assume it is as a reviewer by the name of BB mentioned, they simply don't understand it.

I'm not going to draw lengthy comparisons between Morgan and Ex Machina, or reminisce about the director's credentials. (Seriously, just go count how many butt hurt Ex Machina reviewers you can spot here. It's annoying, guys.)

I'll simply say this:

1. It's a decent movie, on it's own, and deserves a watch.

2. It's listed as a Horror movie. It is not a horror movie.

3. I guess some of the acting could be better. Overall, it's really not that bad.

4. It has elements that Ex Machina lacked. It's fast-paced and there are actual action scenes. It's not as drawn out either.

5. I am disappointed that Paul Giamatti only appears in one scene. Also, Taylor-Joy was an interesting choice for Morgan. I look forward to seeing her in the upcoming Split.

This is a very good movie. The bad reviews focus on expectations. Morgan is not a blockbuster by any stretch but it is clearly above average fair for sci-fi flick. It deserves better than the 5.8 on IMBD's scale and much better than the bad reviews listed here.