By Harrison Ferger
“”The Creator” “is Gareth Edwards fourth feature film. Most known for his two giant IP driven properties “Godzilla” (2014) and “Rogue One” (2016) from the “Star Wars” franchise. These projects proved Edwards incredible sense of scale and integration between live action and CGI. Yet, it has been a little over seven years since the release of his last film and he has seemingly been given the reins to create an original science fiction film on a sizable $80 million budget. So with these savior claims can “The Creator” live up to the hype?
“The Creator” is a film full of great successes and great failures. On the one hand, easily one of the best looking films of the year. “The Creator” feels like a rush of hope in the world of visual storytelling in science fiction. Perfectly integrated visual effects and practical elements that will make you wonder how “Marvel” is still putting out films like “Antman and the Wasp: Quantimainia” with an estimated 200 million dollar budget. Edwards put together a team of some of the best working Cinematographers with Greig Fraser and Oren Soffer. Much like Fraser’s work on last year’s “The Batman,” the unbelievable lighting and color depth that we are given will have you scratching your head. Action sequences full of genuinely tense moments from a director with a real vision. But behind the visuals is a story that is so deeply derivative and shallow that it feels like it was written by the AI the film so strongly wants to defend .
AI, American military interference and religion are deeply complex issues and ideas that have become extremely hot button issues in the last year. With the recent writers strike, writers have finally found protection, who were in fear of losing their jobs. Along with an increase in the use of AI bots in art spheres seems to be a perfect ground to till ideas from. The film instead chooses to say little to nothing about the complex issues of AI. While also making the strange choice of casting only Asian actors in the role of the AI. While I believe that Edwards intentions are good and he is making clear allusions to things like the Vietnam War, that is as deep as it gets and it can come off a bit odd when AI is so rife with controversy and to make an entire continent the “other”. Not to mention that the made up “New Asia” is just a messy mix of asian stereotypes and is loosely alluding to films like “Blade Runner” and “Akira” but I use the term loosely. What we have are strands of ideas so clearly plucked from other totemic science fiction works that say little to nothing about the story ideas of this film. You’ll find the advertisements of “Blade Runner” or the savior child of “Akira”. Even the action set pieces of “Star Wars” or the “lone wolf and cub” stories of old Japanese cinema. But all they do is allude to better stories that have something to say. This film feels like it has nothing to say outside of being empathetic and anti-war sentiments. The story and themes become so paper thin that film falls with a simple push.
John David Washington does prove to be a great star in this gigantic work. Like I mentioned before, Edwards really does a great job of connecting these real characters to the huge images he creates. Newcomer Madeleine Yuna Voyles really does a great job with what she is given and brings a real human performance to the role of Alphie. It’s just unfortunate that the film cannot give them more depths to swim in.
While “The Creator” sits above much of what has come from the science fiction blockbusters of recent with standard changing effects and jaw-dropping cinematography, “The Creator” just becomes a messy story that steals from better, more complex and interesting stories.
My rating: 2.5/5