The Creator

Gareth Edwards and Chris Weitz team up for their latest Sci-fi adventure. Humanity is at war with the AI it once developed and embraced. That all changed when a sentient AI turned on it and exploded a nuclear weapon on Los Angeles. The west outlawed AI, however, in New Asia it is still developed with robots and synthetics part of society as equals. When the west hears of a new AI super weapon, they step up their aggression. Key to this is Joshua (John David Washington) a former special ops soldier who had once been undercover in Asia where he married and fathered a child with Maya (Gemma Chan). He is to be part Colonel Howall’s (Alison Janney) strike force to recover the weapon. However, when Joshua discovers the weapon is a child (Madeline Yuna Voyles) it puts him in conflict with his country and opens his eyes to a different reality.

Occasionally you see a film that is relatively well received by critics and audiences alike, that makes you wonder if you’ve watched a different film. The Creator for me is one of those.

Let’s start with the positives. Shot for a relatively modest budget ($80m), the world building and effects are incredible. While CGI heavy, there is a wonderful practical feel which is absorbing. John David Washington and Allison Janney are always watchable.

But that said, what a mess of a film. It has a narrative that makes one unconnected leap after another. This leads to character relationships that make no sense. The realtionships it wants us to believe between Joshua, his wife, the child or former soldiers are unearned. Yet we’re to believe that they would make sacrifices for each other. This left me uninvested in any of the them and unengaged in the supposed emotional final act

The Creator, on a relatively small budget, looks incredible. But it’s where the positives stop. The storyline is a mess, leaping from one unconnected moment to another. This leaves characters under developed and realtionships that make no sense. Sadly as great as it looks, it was all rather dull and unengaging for me.