REVIEW: The Creator

This premise for Gareth Edwards' The Creator would be very interesting if it had not dropped in a time when actors are technically still striking over the introduction of AI into the industry. There's even a space in the film where we see a billboard inviting humans to "help AI: donate your likeness today!" that I can't believe wasn't dropped during editing.

Just the same, I have a feeling that time will be kind to this movie. I'm not interested in throwing all tentpole films under the bus or rendering all their accomplishments inert, but it is rare to see filmmaking at its most pure achieve such riveting ends against the canvas of blockbuster filmmaking. Dramatic, even artful storytelling can actually sit perfectly in the casings of an action-adventure film.

The year is 20?? and we're living in a world where artificial intelligence has not only been integrated into regular life, but half of humanity is actively trying to extricate it, violently if they have to. After artificial intelligence launches a nuclear bomb upon Los Angeles, America as a nation has outlawed beings of artificial intelligence and is demanding that foreign countries do the same as well. People like Joshua (John David Washington) embark on special ops missions to take out underground robots, which becomes a problem when his wife (Gemma Chan), an ally to the machines, learns about the nature of his work and is none too impressed. A mission goes wrong, and Joshua sees his wife consumed by a giant fireball. Or so he thinks. The possibility of his wife's survival motivates him to ally with a formidable Colonel Howell (Allison Janey) and return to the underworld.

Which is where he meets an AI child girl, nicknamed "Alphie" (Madeleine Yuna Voyles), whose unique abilities make her the interest of many warring factions. For the AI, she is their ultimate protection against the humans who want all machines eliminated. For Howell and the American military, she is the last thing standing in the way of their victory. For Joshua, she is the only chance he has at finding his wife again. He'll do anything to keep her safe long enough to unlock her secrets, maybe even unlock his own heart.

The lens through which the movie wants us to view AI is that of an exploited underclass, a reading that is boosted by the mindful diverse casting within the film. To that, the film sets up the AI as the oppressed class so strikingly right from the start that there was never going to be any revelation in Joshua's eventual realization that the AI are not the enemy. But the time Joshua spends playing catch-up is well spent, exploring the nuances of a world where robots are both revered and reviled. AI has made its way into virtually every space on earth, including rural riverside villages where children play alongside their robots, even mourn for them as they deteriorate.

Much publicity has been given to the film's unique approach to VFX, specifically the way the film cost less than $100 M to make when the production value looks like it's worth twice that much. Viewers with more of an interest in production and filmmaking will likely parse through this with keener interest. As for me, the best I can say is pick your favorite blockbuster (save for maybe those James Cameron pieces), and the film looks at least as good as that. Probably better.

The tone, aesthetics, and performances all feel like they wandered in from an indie film set, except I don't remember Lady Bird having this many explosions. Has Edwards finally found the middle ground between mainstream and niche filmgoers? Maybe. The grounded-ness will help the superhero crowd remember that not every crisis needs to be buttressed with a witty one-liner, and the scope will help more exploratory viewers recall just how fun this whole cinema enterprise can be.

Though it wouldn't be fair to call it underdeveloped, one does get the feeling that the central relationship between Joshua and Alphie never quite reaches its full potential. The chemistry between Voyles and Washington is palpable, but their kinship is more a byproduct of their adventure rather than its driving force. The narrative gives more priority to unpacking Joshua's prejudice against AI, and the surrogate parent-child relationship just kinda happens. It's not that the movie is missing a sense of humanity--this is the rare blockbuster where the nuclear explosions don't just feel like fireworks shows--but the film underestimates how interested we are in that specific relationship.

And that's really the worst thing I can say about the show: I want more of it.

Actually, I want ten more like it.

--The Professor

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