The Creator (2023)

Written by ThisOver on November 22, 2023

"The Creator" is a new film directed by Gareth Edwards, whose credits include 2014's "Godzilla" and "Star Wars Story 1". Will his new work go down in the annals of sci-fi cinema in gold? "The Creator" begins with a newsreel informing us that in 2055, a nuclear warhead was detonated in Los Angeles by an artificial intelligence. This prompted the US to ban the use and development of AI. However, not every country approaches AI in the same way. In Asia, AI is not banned. Fifteen years later, the military is on the hunt for Nirmata, the mysterious creator of artificial intelligence, who has now developed a new weapon that could turn the situation against America. Sergeant Joshua Taylor (John David Washington) is sent to the Republic of New Asia in search of Nirmata and the weapon, but is more eager to find his lost love Maya (Gemma Chan). Accompanied by soldiers, he finds neither Maya nor weapons - only a 'simulant' (the most advanced form of AI) in the form of a child with unique powers. Despite his hatred of AI - his family were killed in the LA explosion - Joshua has no choice but to pair up with this young girl, whom he calls Alphie, in the hope that she will lead him to his beloved Maya.

Watching The Creator, if you have experienced sci-fi cinema before, you will quite often have a sense of déjà vu, as the filmmakers have stitched together elements from numerous previous works of the genre. You will therefore find the spectre of plot ideas from such productions as Blade Runner, Akira, The Terminator, District 9 and even Apocalypse Now, Leon the Professional and Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line. And these are just a few examples. At the same time, the authors of "The Creator" have managed to put these elements together in such a skilful way that the whole is an independent, original achievement, although every now and then it is reminiscent of its great predecessors.

What we have here is a war with AI, road cinema, the story of a chosen one who is to save the world, or at least change the fate of the conflict. In the background, tragic love. Along the way, there is no armchair-pressing twist waiting for us, so 'The Maker' is, for all intents and purposes, a basically predictable work. But also fresh enough to hold the viewer's interest. At least in theory. The visuals are excellent (although too many of the spectacle scenes were shot in the dark - a constant problem for Hollywood, which thus solves the problem of costly fine-tuning of CGI effects). Edwards and the team have created a world of the near future that looks realistic. The action is largely set in Asia, which also adds to the exoticism of the whole thing and takes us away from the standard sci-fi cinema images. There's a kind of visual poetry and sensibility in 'The Creator' that you don't often find in this genre of cinema (and watching it on big IMAX screens, if you have the opportunity, only enhances this). The problem begins, however, when we get to the script. Because skilfully piecing together a script from classic sci-fi tropes (and more) is one thing, but creating an engaging and full-blooded story out of it all is another. I, unfortunately, did not find great layers of emotion in The Creator, although the filmmakers were clearly trying to emotionally engage the viewer.

I am sorry to say that I did not care about the fate of the main character. The problem lies partly in the script, but also partly in John David Washington himself, who plays him. Denzel's son may not be a bad actor, but he doesn't have even half the charisma of his father, on top of which his roles so far have been waspish every time, even when his characters weren't meant to be that way at all. I don't believe him when I see him concerned, scared, angry, loving. For me, he's an actor fit to play cold mercenaries in war films. There is a kind of indifference, an absence in his gaze. On top of this, the heart and soul of 'The Creator', as I understand it, was supposed to be in the forming relationship between Joshua and Alpha, but unfortunately I found it hard to believe in the emerging bond between them, as it was presented unconvincingly, rather rushed and a bit more along the lines that the viewer is just supposed to believe at some point that the two have taken a liking to each other, although we don't really see on screen when this happened or why. Also, the finale, while most impressive, feels chaotic, rushed and not entirely satisfying. Other than that it was easily predictable.