Seen In: Chappie, Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Terminator Genisys, Tomorrowland, The Martian, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ex Machina Yes, 2015 gave women and the elderly some of the big movie roles, but neither could compete with the real stars of the year: the mechanical ones. Maybe it's because, with today's technology, a true artificial intelligence such as have appeared in decades of movies now seems almost plausible in the near future. Or maybe it's just that the self-same technology is more capable than ever before of special effects that can seem to bring robots to life. Either way, from the grandiose, enormously expensive, crossover blockbuster Avengers: Age Of Ultron to the low budget brit-flick Robot Overlords to the televisual likes of Channel 4's Humans, 2015 was the age of the automaton. Some of the year's robot stories came with a nostalgic bent. A CGI enhanced Arnie rolled back the years briefly to assume his original naked cyborg style from 1985's The Termintor in sequel-cum-reboot Genisys, while Neill Blomkamp's CHAPPiE was a bizarre attempt to mash-up 80s cult fave Short Circuit with belligerent South African rap-rave act Die Antwoord. Unsurprisingly, The Incredibles and Iron Giant director Brad Bird also brought a host of evil robotic Ed-209 lookalikes to his retro-futuristic Tomorrowland. Out in space, Matt Damon's stranded astronaut got assistance through repairing an old mars rover, but that was far from the most helpful space robot. There may have been little more than a convenient cameo from trashcan-on-tank-treads R2-D2 in The Force Awakens, but his role in proceedings was more than filled by adorable ball droid BB-8, already an icon endlessly reproduced by the movie's merchandising machine. Perhaps the ultimate recognition of 2015's robot dominance, though, came with the aforementioned Ex Machina. Its perfect melding of effects and performance, all for a budget that wouldn't cover BB-8's cigarette lighter bill, has been recognised by BAFTA nods for both effects and actress Alicia Vikander. Awards for best virtual performance can't be far off. What other massive traits did you notice in 2015 movies? Shout out any missed down in the comments.
