Caradog W. James
The Machine

When in the early '90s, "Nikita" directed by Luc Besson and starring a beautiful and fatal Anne Parillaud in the role of a young rebellious punk who later becomes a serial killer for the French secret services, hit the cinemas, the film immediately became a cult classic. This happened due to the action-packed plot, the tension, the drama in the final scene, and the incredible beauty of Anne Parillaud, but mainly because objectively Nikita's character was very special: a ruthless killer, yet ultimately so fragile and capable of breaking the audience's heart. It was not the first time we saw such a heroine on the big screen, nor the last: how can we not mention "Kill Bill" (which I believe, in many ways, to be the film that marks Tarantino's consecration, beyond whether it's his best film or not, but for the systematic introduction of certain clichés later abused over time), which I think in terms of popularity is unparalleled and a legend destined to last for years. Since then, examples abound, both in action cinema and in science fiction, where it seems easier to endow a woman with a certain superhuman strength, because she belongs to an alien species or an android.

In this case, we find ourselves in the second scenario, because "The Machine" by director Caradog W. James concerns the application of cybernetic projects to subjects who are severely injured or dead and on whom a cerebral implant capable of "reactivating" them on a motor level is implanted, where the challenge is to equip these bionic beings also with advanced artificial intelligence. We are in the United Kingdom, and the context is that of a cold war between Western forces and China due to escalating tensions concerning Taiwan. Scientist Vincent McCarthy is leading a secret military project dedicated to perfecting the mentioned technologies with the hope of creating the famous "perfect soldier." But the truth is that his work, supported by the brilliant scientist Ava, is secretly and unbeknownst to the military leaders, mainly dedicated to finding a solution for Rett Syndrome, which his daughter suffers from.

The developments are easily predictable from the beginning and from what was the premise of this review, so it is not worth revealing more about the plot of a film that takes up a mix of recurring themes in cinema and the science fiction imagination of these years. Inevitably, one might think of the more popular and much more successful "Ex Machina", but the stories are very different and there is no comparison between Alex Garland's excellent film (which anyway was released in cinemas two years later) and the overall quality of "The Machine", which loses itself in the repetition of certain clichés that perhaps appeal to the general public but ultimately lack real substance.