Gareth Edwards’ fictitious & futuristic war story is one told with grace, tragedy, and provides a universe teeming with potential.

Honestly, I really had no expectations for The Creator. I really didn’t care much about Gareth Edwards and his previous works. Sure, Godzilla (2014) had its moments and Rouge One: A Star Wars Story was a fun watch amongst the other filler that Lucasfilm would start to pump out, but i’m not really jumping out of my seat to watch one of his projects. Then I watched the trailer and I was taken away by it. The scenery, the plot, the fact that it all felt so genuine (like actual time and love was put into crafting the world), it became more than enough to grab the attention of me & my friends prior to a screening of Blue Beetle. Now, seeing it in theatres, it was well worth what was shown in the trailer, and much more.

I’m going to start with the obvious point that I would like to express, Gareth Edwards & his team are a bunch of technical mad scientists. I swear the amount of times that I was taken away by the expansive shots to show the scope & impact that this AI revolution has had on both the American & New Asian perspective. From clashing colours to the actors having natural composition on screen, Cinematographers Greg Fraser & Oren Soffer paint masterpieces behind the cameras.

With a budget of 80 Million, it didn’t leave much to play around & experiment with, but you do see it when we get to the nitty gritty scenes during the fighting. I even remember when Edwards was doing press events for The Creator, he spent a good chunk of time talking about how he shot the film & particular scenes rather than any other aspect of the film.

Plot wise, I wouldn’t really call it “revolutionary” but it was a welcome surprise to be sure. I applaud the film in taking a morally grey stance on the topic of AI. The beginning shows us the advancement of AI, and it’s shot like a classic infomercial from the 1950’s. On one side, we have The West wanting the destruction of AI after Los Angelas becomes Ground Zero for a nuclear attack, while New Asia hails the creation of AI as a separate species, as their existence is comparable to humanity. It becomes a bloody conflict in which Joshua (John David Washington’s character) is brought in to destroy a WMD that New Asia’s been developing with the help of Joshua’s former wife, who’s believed to be dead. It becomes an interesting tale of intrigue and while some aspects are easily identifiable, it still feels well & proper when it does occur on screen. However, I wasn’t a fan of the film’s second act, as I felt that it simply existed just to link it’s perfect first act to the climax of the film. I wouldn’t say it ruins the film or made no sense, it became more of an issue of me not remembering any captivating moments from almost 40 minutes of filming that weren’t individual compositions of CGI scenery.

Speaking of CGI, you can tell that the visual artists had plenty of time to polish & fine tune the film. From the synthetic design of the androids, to the eye catching buildings that dwarf the natural scenery, it becomes that much of an attraction, just like the actors involved. Looking back on The Creator, I don’t think that i’d be able to show you one scene where some CGI looked off, it was that convincing, and gave off the impression that this was something to would and not something that could. There were some other aspects of the production that stood out alongside the camerawork. The audio work on the guns, machines, and spacecrafts was sublime, and to find out that Hans Zimmer of all people composed the soundtrack honestly caught me off guard. Not to mention that I went gaga when I heard Clair De Lune more than once in the film.

Performances through the film were okay from everyone around. I personally find John David Washington to be an okay actor with (in my opinion) BlacKKKlansman being his only proper performance from the actor, but he does work well with the material given. He’s having a lot of fun withe script given and plays off everyone well, including Gemma Chan (considering that she’s barely in the film). Him and Madeleine Yuna Voyles, who plays Alfie, have a fun chemistry that takes a bit of time to properly pick up, but she becomes a highlight soon after. Especially at a young age, I hope she goes the extra mile in Hollywood, and especially in projects like thi. Ken Watanabe gives a good performance when he shows up in the latter half of the film, and while I do like actors like Ralph Ineson (his performance was great as always), I wish he had more to do, considering his character was kind of shit.

Overall, The Creator is proper & original science fiction amongst a wave of constant remakes & adaptations. Minus an okay second act and aspects of the final act that felt rushed, it delivers in establishing its own identity, telling its own story, and the end product helps it stand out as Edwards’ Magnum Opus. I can’t wait to see what he produces next, even if it takes years upon years. Truly a job well done.

8/10

(Maybe we’ll have proper spaceships & AI powered McDonalds bots by the time he produces his next project.)