The Creator Movie Review: John David Washington's Sci-Fi Saga Divides You Between Its Stunning Visual World-Building and Derivative Storytelling (LatestLY Exclusive)

The Creator Movie Review: Gareth Edwards' The Creator is a perplexing cinematic experience, leaving you pondering how to approach it. It's a film that astounds with its visual brilliance, delves into world-building without aiming to become a franchise, boasts a couple of extraordinary action sequences, and presents compelling allegories that feel remarkably timely and pertinent. However, The Creator as a whole didn't completely mesmerise me, partly due to borrowed elements in the screenplay that hinder the film's pacing. It's undeniably a bumpy ride, yet The Creator never leaves you craving for extravagance. The Creator Teaser Trailer: It's War Between Humans and AI in Gareth Edwards' Upcoming Sci-Fi Flick.

Set in a distant future, where AI permeates every aspect of human life, a nuclear attack on the USA, presumably triggered by AI, prompts the American government to declare war on artificial intelligence and its supporters worldwide. In this new global order, Asian nations have merged into a culturally diverse region that continues to embrace AI, with AI simulants coexisting harmoniously with humans. This provokes the ire of the Americans, who deploy troops and a hovering sky platform, which is NOT called Death Star, but the innocuously sounding Nomad, to target AI bases.

The American military is also on the hunt for a mysterious figure known as Nirmata, the creator of AI in New Asia, who plans to develop a simulant capable of defeating Nomad. Enter Joshua (John David Washington), a former soldier grieving the loss of his wife Maya (Gemma Chan) and their unborn child, who perished during an undercover operation gone awry. He is coerced into joining an operation in New Asia to uncover Nirmata's identity, driven by the promise that he might reunite with his still alive wife, thanks to a hologram of her.

However, upon reaching their target, Joshua discovers that Nirmata's new weapon is a child simulant (Madeleine Yuna Voyles) with evolving powers to control technology while retaining the innocence of a child. Joshua, nicknaming the simulant Alfie, uses her to seek out Maya and uncovers bitter truths about this new world along the way.

Watch the Trailer of The Creator:

It's hard to miss the political allegories The Creator attempts to convey and the parallels it draws with real-world issues. As a resident of a country where some individuals clamour for bans on films over an actress' orange bikini or censor films that deal with sex education, I find it remarkable that Hollywood boldly critiques the USA's contentious foreign policies regarding military interventions in other countries. The film takes shots at the country's penchant for creating its own adversaries and using it as a pretext for infringing upon other nations' sovereignty. Even though these parallels may seem heavy-handed, in a country like India where artistic criticism of government institution is nearly never allowed by an unspoken Hays Code, who am I to argue on that?

These allegorical elements imbue the film with a profound sense of melancholy, and given its focus on AI, a pressing concern in our contemporary world, The Creator delves into divisive topics, much like the film itself. It's the kind of film that prompts internal division in its viewers - I oscillated between admiration for Gareth Edwards' masterful world-building, bolstered by exceptional technical prowess and stellar performances, and a sense of indifference due to its derivative plotlines that detract from the storytelling and drag down the pacing.

Let's begin with the positives. The Creator immediately immerses you in its dystopian universe. The portrayal of New Asia, with its integration of AI humanoids and humans, is captivating. The special effects and production design are breathtaking, complemented by the outstanding cinematography of Greig Fraser and Oren Soffer. The depiction of AI models is skillfully executed. Hans Zimmer's score, once again, elevates the mood, particularly during the action-packed third act. The action sequences are remarkable, particularly the assault by US forces in the village where Alfie and Joshua are concealed, near the film's climax.

The performances range from good to outstanding. In contrast to his role in TENET, John David Washington delivers a more expressive performance in The Creator, skillfully portraying the anguish of a widower still haunted by his past actions. Gemma Chan leaves a lasting impression despite her relatively brief appearance on screen. Allison Janney delivers a solid performance as one of the antagonists. However, the standout performance comes from the young Madeleine Yuna Voyles, who steals the show with a poignant and touching portrayal. Her emotional performance in the climax would have brought tears to my eyes if the scene's context were stronger in its writing and the setup less noisy and bombastic.

Where The Creator falls short by a significant margin is in its writing. The screenplay feels overly familiar in its themes, making it challenging to connect with the characters. The notion of a robot uprising and artificial intelligence experiencing human emotions, leading to a debate about their potential beyond mere subservience, has been explored in previous films, most notably in popular works like AI: Artificial Intelligence, iRobot, and, in India, Shankar's entertaining masala film Enthiran (no comments on its sequel). The bond between Joshua and Alfie as they embark on a journey of self-discovery together has also been a recurring plotline in recent times, notably in films like Logan and TV series like The Mandalorian and The Last of Us.

The subplot involving Allison Janney's Colonel Howell, a soldier hardened by the war, not-so-subtly reminded me of Miles Quaritch in Avatar. Even if I set aside the familiarity of the plotlines, what made me feel more connected to the characters in those other works is that they allowed them to develop fully. In contrast, The Creator puts Joshua and Alfie through a series of setpieces, where Joshua often behaves rudely toward the child simulant, and then expects us to care when he suddenly displays warmth. The revelation of 'Nirmata' isn't particularly groundbreaking. Nonetheless, there's a sense of poignancy in certain sequences, especially in the moments when Joshua longs for his wife. That's the issue, I want to feel for the characters, I want to dissolve in this world, but the tedium in the writing never allows me to permeate through.

Final Thoughts

The Creator offers a visually stunning cinematic experience while delving into weighty themes and political allegories. The performances are top-notch. However, the overly familiar, and surprisingly shallow, narrative and occasionally tedious pacing prevent The Creator from transcending decent to masterpiece status, despite the numerous elements working towards the latter goal.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 28, 2023 11:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).