Morgan: Female Frankenstein -->MOVIE REVIEW<--

There have been a plethora of films recently concerning female robots or otherwise artificially constructed women. Female robots are alternatively known as gynoids (instead of androids) or fembots. In this film the "robots" are genetically modified and grown (they are called hybrid biological organisms) and so they’re not exactly robots but they are constructed females.

The best recent film concerning manufactured women is Ex Machina. Morgan could be its cousin. Morgan isn’t as good as Ex Machina, but Ex Machina is a hard film to beat. However, Morgan is a worthy addition to the emergent category of recent films about constructed fembots, joining the list which includes Her, Lucy and Under the Skin, all three of which starred Scarlett Johansson. A persnickety reader might quibble that Under the Skin was about an alien disguised as a woman, but she sure acted like a killer robot. Johansson has carved out a niche for herself as the leading threatening artificially enhanced and/or alien woman.

There’s an insatiable audience for dangerous women these days even without Scarlett Johansson, so there’s room for Morgan. The contemporary twist on Pygmalian is that the modern iterations are distinctly lethal. In Morgan we have not one, but two of these enhanced lethal women, which takes the term femme fatale to a new level. It’s possible that some viewers will enjoy Morgan more than Ex Machina as it has more sudden violence, the brutality of which pushes the film into the realm of horror. The contemporary spate of films regarding super-powerful women is a comment on the current cultural climate. I will not attempt to divine what that comment is, as I am certain that somewhere a grad student is composing a thesis on this very topic. From a film-goer’s standpoint, the criterion is simpler- is Morgan entertaining? My answer to that question is Yes!

An increase in the entertainment factor is provided by the inclusion of some recognizable faces, but admittedly none with the wattage of Scarlett Johansson. This could be a blessing in disguise! Paul Giamatti gleefully chomps scenery as a belligerent psychologist sent to interrogate Morgan. This interrogation scene is a high point and is clearly a nod to the famous scene in Blade Runner, where a replicant is subjected to the Voight-Kampff Test.

Toby Jones plays a doctors working on the Morgan project. Jones is recognizable from his similar role as a doctor in charge of another science gone awry project in the TV series Wayward Pines. The attractive redhead Rose Leslie adds eye candy, but her role as Morgan’s only friend is limited. The actor that plays Morgan herself is recognizable from a film that recently made a splash- Anya Taylor-Joy starred in The Witch. With these two films on her resume, Taylor-Joy has launched a career to reckon with. At the center of the film is Kate Mara as Lee Weathers, sent by “Corporate” to evaluate the status of the Morgan project. Kate Mara has a decent resume, but her acting chops don’t provide a firm anchor. She’s competent, but she doesn’t have the gravitas to make her contribution memorable. Rather than having a sprawling ensemble cast, the film could have benefited by focusing more intently on fewer characters. Why do they need so many people working on the Morgan project? Ex Machina is the better film for no other reason than it had fewer characters.

Like I said, to be honest Morgan isn’t a robot. She’s referred to in the movie as a “hybrid biological organism”. She’s the result of gene splicing something (we don’t know what with, but we do see a photo of a microscopic spiky ball) with human DNA. Morgan is five years old but looks like a teenager, and has abilities far beyond that of a normal five year old. Similar feats of bio-engineering have been done on chickens. It takes less time for a modern meat chicken to reach maturity than it used to - a modern chicken grows twice as big in half the time as a chicken did in 1950. Chicken enhancement was done with selective breeding. Now that we have CRISPR genome editing (The American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Breakthrough of the Year for 2015) we can expect even more radical genetic manipulation.

The big question is whether such genetic manipulation techniques will be used on humans. The National Institute of Health issued a statement which says “However, NIH will not fund any use of gene-editing technologies in human embryos. The concept of altering the human germline in embryos for clinical purposes has been debated over many years from many different perspectives, and has been viewed almost universally as a line that should not be crossed. Advances in technology have given us an elegant new way of carrying out genome editing, but the strong arguments against engaging in this activity remain. These include the serious and unquantifiable safety issues…”. However, NIH’s policy statement does not cover privately funded projects. The laws and regulations regarding genetically modified organisms vary from country to country and are complex and varied. The USA is less strict regarding GMOs than other countries, and the USA is not a party to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.

Morgan sidesteps these legal and ethical issues. The Morgan project is a fait accompli, conducted by a shadowy corporation. The project is secretive - it’s done in a remote location (the gorgeous Northern Ireland outdoor shots are worth a mention). We can assume the goal is military, judging from Morgan’s fighting skills. Would a better soldier be one without parents? The film raises an interesting question as to what effect not having traditional parents would have on a bio-genetically engineered human. Although “Morgan” raises worthwhile philosophical questions regarding the use of biotech (an issue that we can expect to become of greater future importance) the film adroitly balances these questions with good old-fashioned violence and suspense.

In an era where too many films are the umpteen installment in a comic book hero franchise, gratefully this one is not. For that reason I was rooting for Morgan. I am glad to report that this is a film worth seeing.