Fantastic Fest 2023 ‘The Creator’ Review – A Gorgeous Yet Empty Sci-Fi Action Thriller
In The Creator, a war between humans and AI erupted when AI was responsible for a nuclear bomb that dropped on Los Angeles. Ten years later, in 2070, AI was banned all over the United States except for New Asia. The US government intends to destroy AI once and for all as well as to find and eradicate Nirmata, the developer of the remaining strand of AI.
Joshua (John David Washington) is a sergeant working undercover, so undercover that his wife Maya (Gemma Chan) thought he had gotten out. But when Joshua’s cover is compromised, his wife is taken away from him and seemingly bombed out of existence right before his eyes.
Five years later, the government tracks down Joshua in hopes of returning to New Asia to find Nirmata once and for all. Not only is Maya still alive, but the most advanced artificial being is a child named Alphie (Madeleine Yuna Voyles), who currently resides in New Asia. The government wants to destroy Alphie, while Joshua believes she can reunite him with his wife.
Aesthetically, The Creator is beautiful to watch. With visual effects from over a dozen visual effects studios, including Industrial Light & Magic and Weta FX, and breathtaking cinematography by Greig Fraser (Dune, The Batman) and Oren Soffer, The Creator is one of the most stunning-looking films of the year.
Along with co-writer Chris Weitz (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Disney’s live-action 2022 remake of Pinocchio), Gareth Edwards has always struggled with writing a worthwhile story for his films. Edwards looked to the likes of Akira, Apocalypse Now, Blade Runner, ET The Extra-Terrestrial, Paper Moon, and Rain Man while writing The Creator.
While watching the film, you can pinpoint the film’s influences. Alphie is a reformatted Tetsuo from Akira; her interactions with Joshua are direct inspirations of Paper Moon and Rain Man, and the war is visually a throwback to Blade Runner with shades of Apocalypse Now.
The film borrows heavily from other similar technology or robot-based films. It attempts to add something modern and updated to a familiar sci-fi concept but needs to dive deeper. In previous incarnations, AI would try to overthrow humanity as the dominant civilization, but they want to survive in The Creator; they’re fighting to see another day. Artificiality not only wants peace, but it craves to exist with humanity.
In between the war between artificial existence and humanity, The Creator briefly touches on what happens after death. Joshua believes he won’t go to heaven because he isn’t a good person, mainly implying that what he did to his wife is unforgivable. Meanwhile, Alphie believes she is in a similar situation, but her denial of her entry into heaven rests on her not being an actual person.
While there is that last-ditch effort for a crazy and likely deadly plan to turn the odds in favor of the protagonists, the finale, more importantly, explores Joshua redeeming himself and Alphie proving that she has a soul that is far more sympathetic and compassionate than most humans could ever dream of being.
Perhaps most impressive in the film is the USS Nomad government vessel. Nomad lurks up high as a deadly weapon that can see everything. The government uses it to turn the war in its favor. Nomad can drop bombs at will and wipe out locations quickly and at the push of a button. Its design is eccentrically different, and Gareth Edwards claims it took the entire COVID lockdown to design fully.
The Verdict
The Creator has astonishing visuals, but that’s where its charm ends. While the performances are strong, the thrilling elements of the film swap actual excitement for a more traditional science fiction film that pays tribute to its influences and little else.
Despite a war featuring a barrage of pew-pew lasers and impressive explosions, The Creator is a recognizable slog when it comes to action and originality. The assembly cut of the film was five hours long, which makes you wonder if anything important is lying in an editing room somewhere.
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