Any time an original piece of sci-fi content comes around that’s not tied to a large franchise or derived from source material, it’s a good day for cinema. From the mind of Gareth Edwards, and co-written with Chris Weitz, comes The Creator – a sci-fi epic set in a world where a war rages on between humanity and AI-controlled robots. In the hunt for the AI’s creator, a former soldier comes across a deadly weapon in the form of a mysterious child.
First and foremost, the world that Gareth Edwards has created for this film is well fleshed out, incredibly intriguing and relevant to the current state of our world. Through the film’s opening sequence and a few lines of dialogue throughout, he explores and hints at a history that saw humans in the Western World turn on AI, while the East embraced it. There’s tonnes of intriguing info dropped throughout the film about the East vs West split and the controversial moment that created the divide, and it made me want to learn more. There’s also plenty of neat concepts in this futuristic society, including how some humans donate their likeness to be used as the faces of AI robots. All of these tidbits of info had me so fascinated by this world that I just kept thinking about how I’d love more films/shows exploring different regions and time periods.
With that being said, the fact that I didn’t love this movie is baffling to me. The world is so fascinating that you’d think the narrative would be a slam dunk, but alas, it just didn’t resonate. The human-scale story is centered around John David Washington’s Joshua, an ex soldier who has been tasked with securing and destroying a deadly weapon. The film hinges on the audience being emotionally invested in this character’s journey and his relationships with other key characters. Unfortunately, I didn’t find his story all that engaging. In fact, it came across as very one-note and predictable. I didn’t feel the emotion of his arc, didn’t care much for the character and didn’t buy into his motivations. Even the supporting characters didn’t offer much in the way of an engaging arc. There were hints of potentially intriguing subplots but they all fizzle out, leading to there being not a single character I cared about.
Even stepping back and looking at the plot as a whole, it shockingly didn’t feel that original. It’s as if it had pulled inspiration from that many similar stories that it lost any sense of originality. It’s riddled with flawed character decisions, inconsistencies in the logic and plot elements that didn’t make a whole lot of sense. The final act, despite being somewhat tense, is a mess that doesn’t really align with what the story had outlined for its characters earlier. I can’t get into details because of spoilers, but basically as time went on the story lost any and all cohesion and emotion.
Despite the narrative woes and lacklustre characters, where the film does excel is entirely on a technical scale. Greig Fraser and Oren Soffer combine to deliver some dazzling cinematography. The sweeping landscapes and bustling cityscapes are all beautifully shot, showcasing the grand scale of this world really well. It’s not quite as majestic as Fraser’s work on Dune (2021) and not quite as stunning as what he produced for The Batman (2022), but it’s undeniably one of this film’s greatest strengths. Then there’s the visual effects which dare I say are near-perfect. From the enormous ship that roams the sky to the robotic components that make up the rear of an AI human’s head, it’s hard to spot an effect that stands out as fake. For a film with an $80M budget, it has the look of a film that’s had at least $200M put into it, and that’s wildly impressive. Even more impactful that the visuals in this film is the score helmed by none other than Hans Zimmer. So many of the film’s biggest moments are greatly enhanced by his booming score, effectively capturing the dramatic nature of what’s happening on screen.
As much as I may not have loved the characters, I don’t have any complaints about the performances. John David Washington is decent in the lead role – he doesn’t do anything to sell the emotion of the film, but he’s especially great in selling the action. There’s moments where some of his charisma shines through the character and he has fun with injecting some wit and humour into the film, and that’s when he’s at his best. Gemma Chan and Ken Watanabe are also solid in their respective roles, so much so that I wish they had a greater presence in the film. However, amongst all this A-list talent, it’s the young newcomer in Madeleine Yuna Voyles who shines the brightest. Madeleine plays Alfie in what is her first-ever performance and she crushes it. She exudes charm and charisma in nearly every moment without barely saying a word. She’s adorable when she needs to be and really sells the emotion when she’s called upon. Since she doesn’t have a tonne of speaking lines, a lot of what she does is very subtle – just a slight change of her facial expression speaks volumes.
In the end, I don’t know what else to say about The Creator besides the fact that it’s a huge disappointment. It’s still a satisfying watch thanks to the large scale sci-fi action, exceptional visuals and enthralling world, but the severely lacklustre narrative is its biggest downfall. With no emotional investment in the characters or central arc, there are no stakes to remain engaged in what’s going on. Gareth Edwards has done a great job at crafting an interesting universe, he just hasn’t quite nailed the story that could’ve made this a modern sci-fi classic.
6/10
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