The Creator

The biggest feather in the cap of the 2023 sci-fi action film, The Creator, was that it was credited for not based on an already existing IP. While new ideas are always being created and this film is clearly inspired by several popular sci-fi and manga stories of old, it did feel like a breath of fresh air to see something wholly different come out during a time when the excess seemed to be pre-existing franchises continually shilling out remakes or follow-ups that people were finally starting to get tired of. To be fair though, it’s hard to say this 20th Century Studios film was able to dash all worries of losing new ideas, as it didn’t make a big splash from either an audience or a commercial standpoint and has largely been forgotten a mere two years after its release.

In 2055, Artificial Intelligence has evolved to the point that it has formed its own culture, but America has waged war against them after they were responsible for supposedly detonating a nuclear warhead over Los Angeles which killed millions. While most of the west are willing to terminate AI with the use of their high-altitude aerospace device known as NOMAD, this is opposed by those in the Southeast Asian region who have learned to co-exist with AI. With a plan to assassinate ‘’Nirmata’’, the mysterious chief architect behind various AI improvements in the East, U.S sergeant Joshua Taylor (played by John David Washington) is tasked by U. S. Army General Andrews (played by Ralph Ineson) and Colonel Howell (played by Allison Janney) with destroying a new weapon engineered by Nirmata that has the potential to destroy NOMAD. After being persuaded when he learns that his wife, Maya (played by Gemma Chan) whom he believed to be dead, is living amongst an AI settlement, he goes to destroy this weapon but finds that it has taken the form of a child later nicknamed ‘’Alphie’’ (played by Madeline Yuna Voyles). Being forced together since she’s the only one who knows the whereabouts of Maya, Joshua slowly starts to bond with this kid who holds the power to shut off all electronic devices in close proximity and learns the situation in L.A wasn’t as he believed it to be, but with Howell closing in with plans to execute this child without remorse, how will this conflict between humanity and AI resolve?

While The Creator received fair reception, its underperformance at the box office showed that it didn’t connect with mainstream audiences and despite being a fresh idea, needed more of an identity to claim credit. There are good components to this film, mainly in some of its ideas surrounding A.I and its glorious visual effects, but with a has-been plotline, weak characters and an unsatisfying conclusion, it’s no surprise people forgot it fairly quickly.

Originally beginning production in 2019, this movie took a lot of inspiration from films like Apocalypse Now, Baraka, Blade Runner, Akira, Rain Man, The Hit, E.T, and Paper Moon, and the comparisons are pretty evident, as the story is riddled with several familiar and even outdated cliches that can result in some very predictable and overly simple moments, This comes into conflict with what the story, created by director, Gareth Edwards, actually does pretty decently. The concept of a man bonding with an AI and tackling the moral dilemma of whether or not this being has a soul, has been done several times in the past (Japan and other Asian countries have honestly tackled this premise to death decades prior), but what a story does different with a pre-existing idea is what makes it stand out, and while nothing feels incredibly fresh, there are still a few fun nuggets, especially with how it explores the idea of AI becoming integrated into modern society (which is a very relevant subject to discuss).

While the ethics of creating artificial life is still debatable, the film highlights the hypocrisy of shunning a system for mirroring reality when it was specifically designed to do so, how the line between human and robot can be blurred pretty quickly when a legitimate bond is formed, and how some are willing to accept and work with a foreign idea or individual as long as it remains subservient to them and will only turn hostile once it fights back. While these are nice ideas, the overall screenplay by Edwards along with fellow screenwriter, Chris Weitz, is simultaneously too ambitious as well as too bare bones to really leave much of an impression, with scenes that feel disjointed, plot reveals that don’t surprise, and a final act that gets a little confused and messy with how it wraps things up. The directing by Edwards is perfectly sound in pacing and tone, but outside of a sense of visual awe and scale, he never feels like he’s really great at mapping out his story, leading his actors or even producing something that can appeal to many people. His past directing jobs like the 2014 film version of Godzilla and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (partially at least) have great elements, but don’t really work as overall packages, whereas this film is technically better put together but isn’t home to as many jaw-dropping aspects.

Another common aspect of Edwards’ work is that he seems incapable of creating compelling lead characters, with them often coming across as bland, unengaging, and despite being played by decent actors, aren’t able to steal the show. It’s no different here, with leads that are very underwritten, lacking in any strong personality traits and aren’t even held together by their performances. John David Washington and Gemma Chan are perfectly fine actors, but this movie proves that they aren’t strong enough to lead a picture without good writing backing them up, and their characters are pretty lukewarm to say the least. Washington has very little backstory, personality or even much of a connection with the characters he’s supposed to be attached to, and Gemma Chan is featured so sparingly, used in such an obvious manner, and despite being a narrative crux, never leads to anything interesting, so neither are given the chance to show themselves off.

Madeline Yuna Voyles is fine as Alphie, but her role is very traditional, doesn’t allow for anything different from other examples of the ‘’saviour child that has unknown powers which could save all’’ archetype, and because her relationship with John David Washington isn’t that strong, it leaves what should be the core of the film feeling a little hollow. Most of the supporting cast are just random faces that are either meant to state a piece of exposition, provide a sense of commentary, or just be someone that dies in a big battle. Sometimes the acting isn’t even that solid either, particularly from Sturgill Simpson as an old friend of the lead, who has an awkward stilted delivery that ruins a good chunk of whatever scene he’s featured in (it seems like being a successful country singer isn’t the same as being a successful actor). With that said, the two supporting characters who do manage to hold their own are Ken Watanabe as an AI solider, and Allison Janney as the character of Howell. Both roles are still poorly developed, but their acting and the way both carry themselves makes them feel genuine, engaging and experienced in a way that makes you feel they have a past that has gone unexplored.

While Edwards can feel a bit inconsistent with his story and characters, he has always been able to capture a sense of visual spectacle on both a small and large scale, and this film has visuals (fittingly enough both physical and digital) that are genuinely impressive to look at given the budget. While it’s an impressive $80 million, given the market nowadays where most mainstream blockbusters are often in the latter hundreds, seeing a film provide such pleasant imagery and realistic looking digital effects with half of that expected amount is refreshing and telling for the current state of the industry. It’s also fitting for a film that talks about the difference between realness and fakeness that a good chunk of the locations are real locations and not just a set or a green-screen, as Edwards specifically asked to shoot in a bunch of locations like Cambodia, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Nepal to really bring an authentic feel to the production, and this detail helps elevate aspects that might’ve been a little stale if left alone.

While the production design by James Clyne, the set decoration by Claire Levinson-Gendler and the costume design by Jeremy Hanner isn’t necessarily bad, it looks and feels pretty similar to other sci-fi stories, but with this added South-East Asian touch, it breaths a new life into the visual design and provides some nice fresh imagery for the genre, like robots clothed in traditional Japanese farming attire tending to fields, a Buddhist temple featuring robotic carvings and robots wearing religious robes, and a river-side fishing village that is populated by both human and robot, it’s a nice change of pace. The cinematography by Greig Fraser and Oren Soffer is also quite good, showing off these sprawling locations in a very cinematic fashion while still capturing the earthy atmosphere of the more peaceful indigenous environments. It’s not a great looking film, but it gets the job done in a nice fashion, which can also be said for the musical score provided by Hans Zimmer, as on its own, it’s a nice sounding piece that works for the film (it’s Hans Zimmer, so that isn’t really a surprise), but isn’t anything out of the ordinary for him or even for the genre.

Original ideas need to keep coming out in order for the movie space to not grow stale, and it feels like general audiences have reached a point where they are no longer willing to fall for the same thing over and over again, being more selective of what they go see at the theatres. However, The Creator doesn’t seem to have convinced people that it’s one worth checking out despite propping itself up as a picture not based on a pre-existing project, proving that even being fresh isn’t solely good enough, you also need to be better overall in order to properly leave your mark. As a whole, the film is perfectly decent and is home to some really great effects, some pleasant visuals and a few good ideas from Gareth Edwards who does seem like a pretty competent director, but it also houses a messy script, bland characters and a confused third act. You’ll get an average good time but not much else, this creation may have needed a few more minutes in the testing bay before it was given the chance to play for the world.