“The Creator” review — flawed AI sci-fi epic is visually stunning
★★★☆☆ John David Washington races to save the world from AI in Gareth Edward’s refreshingly original sci-fi.
The Creator represents a pleasant cinematic outlier.
In an industry dominated by superhero movies, sequels and legacy IPs dusted off for soulless reboots, this new ambitious sci-fi actioner is an entirely original movie. I say original loosely, Gareth Edwards’ bleak vision of a conflict with artificial intelligence lifts a lot of ideas from great genre movies. But the final product still feels refreshingly unlike anything we’ve seen in a very long time.
Set in an alternate near future, the U.S. government is fighting a brutal war with an advanced race of AI after a nuclear bomb was detonated over Los Angeles. Integral to humanity’s survival is Josh (John David Washinton), a former undercover operative whose efforts to locate and terminate “Nirmata” — the AI’s mythical chief architect — led to the apparent deaths of his wife (Gemma Chan) and unborn child.
Years later the war wages on, but the U.S. appears to be nearing victory. Learning of a weapon created by Nirmata to destroy NOMAD, a trillion-dollar orbital station capable of launching devastating missile attacks, Josh is reactivated and deployed to the AI’s stronghold in Asia. Infiltrating an installation harbouring the weapon, Josh’s beliefs are challenged when he discovers that Nirmata’s creation, the weapon that could spell the end for all humanity, is a young child.
$80 million dollar movies that aren’t franchise fare are all too uncommon these days. It’s a small miracle this even exists. Writer-Director Gareth Edwards (Monsters, Godzilla, Rogue One) ran with the opportunity, leaning on his low-budget background and squeezing every drop of value from his budget. The Creator looks absolutely gorgeous, a remarkably believable world with the kind of lived-in depth we’ve not seen at this scale since Neill Blomkamp’s District 9.
In addition to borrowing from movies like Blade Runner, Avatar, and, of all films, Terminator Salvation (it’s underrated- fight me), Edwards isn’t afraid to also steal from his own movies. Eastern influences and scale abound, evoking memories of his excellent but underappreciated Godzilla.
The film’s many action scenes, often tense battles in the splintered bamboo of New Asia, are filled with worrying visuals of innocent children caught in the crossfire. When mining tension and emotional resonance from the harrowing carnage of war, Edwards is chillingly effective.
It’s also well acted. John David Washington (Tenet) is literally a clone of his legendary father, finding the perfect balance between action hero and something more vulnerable. Newcomer Madeleine Yuna Voyles delivers an instant all-time great child performance as the adorable Alfie, the robot girl with the world in her hands.
Gemma Chan (Eternals), Ken Watanabe (Inception) and Allison Janney (I, Tonya) are all great, if perhaps a little under-utilised. Ralph Ineson (The Witch), possessing probably the greatest voice on the planet, delivers a surprisingly decent American accent in a small but crucial role.
Spectacular visuals and solid acting aside, The Creator unfortunately fails to deliver the same thrills elsewhere. It’s frustrating to see the film’s many thought-provoking ideas and grand world-building essentially boil down to a chase movie with a thuddingly loud and brainless climax.
Co-written by Chris Weitz, the film is also rife with head-scratching plot twists and contrivances that only serve to further confuse its base ideas. Simply put, its reach exceeds its programming.
An exciting, crowd-pleasing sci-fi original, films like The Creator need to be watched. It’s flawed, yes, but it’s also a delightfully ambitious movie, helmed by a rare modern filmmaker possessing a discernible identity.
More like this, please.
