This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.
I am a sucker for a good Sci-Fi flick. I grew up on Star Wars and Star Trek and lately have been intrigued with Artificial Intelligence now that it is up and coming throughout our daily lives. There have been multiple films that show the good and bad use of A.I. in the civilian world, military and other areas of human lives. When I first saw the trailer for The Creator, I lifted my eyebrows. Will it be another Terminator? Or will it be more like films like Ex Machina and I, Robot? Safe to say, it was a little combination of everything.
The Creator is a story that takes place in a dystopian future where the robots that mankind created to help them, turns on them and takes over the world. It turns into a war of man vs. machine. After the A.I. supposedly dropped a nuclear bomb on Los Angeles, the humans built a gigantic spaceship that scans the landscape and can drop a bomb on any city at any time.
The main story follows Joshua Taylor, played by John David Washington, when he is recruited in order to hunt and kill “The Creator”, the mastermind behind the entire A.I. army. He soon finds out that the ultimate weapon that The Creator has been making is not what he is expecting, and this mission will prove more difficult than originally thought to be.
First, this movie was beautifully shot. This was surprising to me because the director, Gareth Edwards (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Godzilla) used a $4,000 camera and only had a budget of 80 million dollars. This movie looked like there was at least 100 million put into it. The cinematography and scene shots were immaculate. There is a weapon that humans made and every time it was on screen, I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen.
I think John David Washington delivered a really solid performance here. I enjoyed him very much in Tenet and Amsterdam so I was intrigued to see him again. Gemma Chan (Crazy Rich Asians, Eternals) was also remarkable. Even though she wasn’t in the film for much screen time, she stole the show every time she was on.
When it comes to the story or plot of science fiction movies, it is always a hit or miss. I loved the plots of Total Recall and Terminator, but not so much for films like I, Robot. So, when I first heard and saw the trailer for The Creator, I was really hoping they would pull it off right. There were things in the movie that I wasn’t expecting walking into it, which was good, but for the most part, the story kept me involved with the movie. I was always wondering what was next and the movie wasn’t predictable.
Final Thoughts:
This was a solid science fiction movie. You can tell Gareth Edwards is a great sci-fi director and I hope he makes more in this genre. This new universe was so interesting I wouldn’t be surprised if they create more movies in the realm of The Creator. In fact, I am begging they do. If you are a fan of science fiction movies and like the A.I. stories, then I highly recommend this movie.
