Cinema for Brunch THE CREATOR Review

“The Creator” is a soulful, entertaining, bloated sci-fi epic that has potential to be a cult classic.

Synopsis

As a future war between the human race and artificial intelligence rages on, ex-special forces agent Joshua is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI. The Creator has developed a mysterious weapon that has the power to end the war and all of mankind. As Joshua and his team of elite operatives venture into enemy-occupied territory, they soon discover the world-ending weapon is actually an AI in the form of a young child.

Review
Gareth Edwards is an interesting director to watch. After hitting the scene with his critically-acclaimed film “Monsters” in 2010, he was tapped to create a (lackluster) beginning to a rebooted Godzilla in 2014, only to bounce back in 2016 and direct one of the better Star Wars films in “Rogue One”. His latest epic, “The Creator”, seems like a poetic culmination of all the influences on his sleeve – sci-fi, romance and adventure. “The Creator” opens in the near future with a simple exposition – after the destruction of Los Angeles at the hands of artificial intelligence, there has been an ongoing war between humans and androids. Governments in the West have issued a ban on A.I. while Eastern governments have continued their creation of A.I. to the point where they have become human-like. Amidst this war between America and Asia (now known as New Asia), Joshua (played by John David Washington) is an ex-special forces agent tasked with hunting down and killing “the Creator”, an elusive architect of A.I. that may have created a weapon that has to power to end the human-vs-machine war. Joshua is a tormented character, grieving for five years over the loss of his wife Maya (Gemma Chan). Confronted with the realization that he could be reunited with his presumed-dead love, Joshua agrees to embark on the mission of hunting down the Creator, bringing him to an AI in the form of a young child (Madeleine Yuna Voyles) that changes the mission altogether.

In my opinion, what makes a great sci-fi film is not just the plot or the special effects or the visuals, but the themes. “Alien” and “Prometheus” presented themes of dangerous new life, “Blade Runner” and “Blade Runner 2049” explored themes of what it means to be human. The themes within “The Creator”, while they may not be new, are worth a pause or two. War (what is it good for?), what it means to be human and dangers of technology are the obvious few but Artificial Intelligence (ironic enough) is a hot button topic in Hollywood today as there is much trepidation about whether such a thing will replace human creativity and essentially, human art. “The Creator” – coming at just the right time as the WGA strikes come to an end – seems to be an apt metaphor for this dynamic. Resistant to change and the potential danger A.I. could be, the West does everything in its power to make sure every android is wiped off the face of the earth. One of these machines used is a device called the NOMAD, a massive spaceship-of-sorts that destroys targets in its path (marking its targets with a wide scanning light) that may be hiding places for Androids. The Nomad is one of the greatest creations I’ve ever seen in a Science-Fiction film – paying homage to ships such as the Millennium Falcon, it’s an original creation that is best witnessed in IMAX.

In regards to the cinematography, there is truly some beautiful work done here, due to the contributions of cinematographers Greig Fraser and Oren Soffer. There are beautiful moments and images in the film that I will not soon forget, helmed by a resounding Hans Zimmer score. Edwards makes terrific use of every sunset, landscape and tech in each frame. The film uses its budget well and does not suffer from it either. The pacing, on the other hand is fresh and steady within its first two acts. The action is well-executed, the plot goes to unpredictable places and the blossoming relationship between Joshua and the young Android create stakes and brings forth a pair of characters that the audience sincerely cares about. The third act, however, drags with about three endings tacked on to the story. Beautiful scenery aside, this film could have taken a few more edits before being released, cutting the runtime down from a long 133 minutes to a cool 120. Even throughout the moments of eternal dragging, Hans Zimmer’s score still soars above all, adding a great tempo to the beautiful moments of love, loss and redemption.

As to our leading man, one would expect Washington’s performance to be a knock out of the park after coming off his solid turn in Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” but this performance is unfortunately a step down. Washington is still working on his range of emotion as Joshua is a man tortured by loss and there are scenes where the actor just doesn’t sell what needs to be sold. In action scenes of stolid focus, he’s great; in scenes where he needs to show a little more than just a tear in the eye, he’s flat. Newcomer Madeleine Yuna Voyles however, is terrific in the role of “Alphie”, the young A.I. creation. She sells the role of affable, childlike wonder very well and has great chemistry with Washington, making him better in the process. Gemma Chan has decent screen time as Maya but not enough to leave an impression. Allison Janney brings in strong work as Colonel Howell, a no-nonsense solider that isn’t totally without a conscience…at least when it comes to her defending her good ol’ boys in the West. Ken Watanabe brings gravitas to the role of Harun, an A.I. that was once a friend to Joshua. He serves as the conscious of the film alongside “Alphie”, bringing a human element to the film. Ralph Ineson also makes a solid appearance as the strong-willed General Andrews, having his time to shine in the extended third act.

Closing Thoughts
“The Creator” is destined to become a sci-fi cult classic. It may not share the same love or have the same impact as “Star Wars” but it has the potential to catch a slowburn of fandom like one of its influences, “Blade Runner”. The third act has too much to be not desired but for the most part, “The Creator” is a soulful, entertaining sci-fi picture. Unforgettable images, a sweeping score and well-shot action is what makes the film different from the other sci-fi films we’ve seen of late.

Trailer

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