Film Review: The Creator

NOTE: While the WGA strike is officially over, as of me writing this, SAG-AFTRA is still on strike, demanding fair wages, better working conditions, protection from AI, among many other important issues that face actors, as well as other sections of the entertainment industry. I am in full support of the strike, and I encourage you to read about it, spread word, and if possible, consider donating to the Entertainment Community Fund, which helps financially struggling artists and workers in the film and television industry. Thank you.

Apologies in advance if my thoughts here feel a bit disorganized. I didn’t even intend to write this out at first, but things about the film – both good and bad, have stuck with me quite a bit since I saw it a couple days ago. For anyone unaware, The Creator is the new film from Gareth Edwards, who co-wrote the script with Chris Weitz. It is a science fiction film that takes place in the future when we have already gone through many advancements in artificial intelligence, but the humans (or rather, the United States) decides to wage war following an explosion in Los Angeles. The war continues over many years, with the brunt of the action taking place in New Asia, where A.I. is actively accepted and a part of society.

John David Washington stars as Joshua Taylor, a former special forces agent who grieves over the disappearance of his wife during an undercover mission several years prior. He is given the opportunity to potentially find her, but the main task of the mission is to seek out and destroy a weapon made by the mysterious “Creator,” primarily referred to as Nirmata. This weapon turns out to simple be an android child that Joshua nicknames Alphie (Madeleine Yuna Voyles). Driven by his desire to see his wife again, Joshua takes Alphie as a guide to get him some much needed answers. And this is all while being pursued by local authorities and U.S. forces under the command of Colonel Howell (Allison Janney).

First thing worth mentioning is that the film is undeniably beautiful. And a big reason as to why that is the case, is just as remarkable. Made with a budget of roughly $90 million – a genuinely shocking number for a film of this level of ambition – the filmmakers took a very lowkey approach to the production, which placed an emphasis on smaller crews, on location shooting, with a prosumer Sony camera no less, and a streamlined post-production process that allowed the VFX team to use the time they had to refine the shots that were going to be used in the film without worrying about constant changes. It’s honestly quite the achievement on a technical front, the effects are absolutely seamless, and I hope this brings forth some kind of shift in the way a lot of blockbusters have been operating as of late with their overinflated budgets and overworked crew members, especially in the VFX department.

However, as a piece of science fiction, The Creator is very admirable in its ambition, but it doesn’t quite reach the heights that it’s aiming for. Some might argue that the film is derivative and doesn’t say anything particularly fresh about the nature of artificial intelligence and their place in the world, but as Roger Ebert once said, “It’s not what a movie is about, it’s how it is about it.” I don’t really care that the film isn’t the most original piece of writing in the world, I’m really just happy to see a movie of this size and scope that isn’t based on any preexisting intellectual property. Unfortunately, there are some elements that upon my watch, I initially conceived as nitpicks, but really grew to actual problems the more I thought about them.

The world-building has the feeling of being rich, mostly due to the on-location shooting and beautifully integrated visual effects, but much of it ultimately rings hollow. What exactly is “New Asia?” What does that entail? All we get in the film is simply a combination of numerous Asian performers, many speaking their native tongue. But what is it saying about this world? Did all these Asian countries unify over their support of artificial intelligence? I can’t imagine that alone being the thing that defies centuries old borders and differences in customs and beliefs. Apparently, even the robots in this world hold beliefs as we see them pray, take part in old human traditions, and other things that would normally seem out of the ordinary for something so advanced. But sadly, we never truly get that personal perspective, and it wouldn’t be the first time Hollywood has leaned on Asian imagery as a way to present something alien/exotic/futuristic.

We only ever experience this world through the eyes of Joshua and Alphie, both on opposite ends of this war. We don’t fully get an understanding of what the day-to-day is like for many of these androids. There’s plenty of political speak, but not much of the personal. We ultimately get more of the anti-A.I. perspective, with many fears being ones that people face even today. But what are these androids fighting for besides the greater concept of “freedom.” What does freedom look and feel like for them? We never really get that. And strangely enough, as much as the film seems to empathize with their plight, it is quick to make visual gags out of their suffering in many of the action scenes, whether it’s being outsmarted by a dog, or crawling around looking for their head after an explosion. By the way, the action in the film is serviceable, decently staged, but not as biting and impactful with the way it handles its PG-13 limitations.

And to get back to the whole “New Asia” thing for a bit. The film is littered with imagery meant to evoke the horrors of the Vietnam war, painting this campaign as an effort by America to stamp out A.I. while acting like it is for the benefit of the people living in these regions. But anyone who has read a history book knows that’s a common excuse for us to impart our will on foreign lands. The US military might shows no restraint from using NOMAD, a Death Star-esque space station that rains hellfire from above upon countless innocents. That is ultimately the heart of the film’s criticism towards America’s foreign policy for much of the 20th century and beyond. But it does so at the expense of the people it harms.

This is another case of a Hollywood film that is – to an extent – about race and prejudice that chooses to take a more metaphorical approach. But like it has been done time and time again, the only real thought put into the metaphor was simply making the people-of-color something else, an animal, an element, a robot. It’s an approach that inadvertently dehumanizes the kind of people that artists intend on humanizing to begin with. There’s also such a mix of androids and people in New Asia that at a certain point, you can’t really tell who is what unless you happen to see their head in a profile position. So, one can’t help but see the filmmakers applying a single brush to all these people who get caught in the crossfires. Just another collection of foreign bodies crushed under the tanks of American imperialism.

Even stepping outside of the misguided political underpinnings, the storytelling itself always feels a draft or two away from being really rock solid. Scenes flow from one to the next with great inelegance. Our lead pining for a character, who we only see with him for a couple minutes, adds a strange disconnect that prevents you from really being invested in the relationship and potential reunion. Big reveals happen in flat exposition dumps, and don’t carry the weight that they should. Certain beats feel like payoffs to things that weren’t properly setup. Hans Zimmer’s score leaves a lot to be desired. There’s just a lot of sloppiness in the way that it’s cut together. Perhaps not the biggest deal when it’s just a few minor nitpicks, but all these little things coming together do sour the immersive nature of the film. Among the many influences on this, James Cameron is perhaps the biggest one, and while one could certainly make similar cultural criticisms that I have here, especially in relation to his Avatar movies, Cameron is simply a much more polished storyteller.

Though the film may be beautiful from the technical side, one thing that kept bothering me was the use of the 2.76:1 aspect ratio. When in a theater that does not have any masking features, you will be stuck watching the film with distracting black bars above and below the image for the entire duration. That kind of wide frame can be useful in storytelling, but given Edwards’ often naturalistic, handheld shooting style, it doesn’t lend for a ton of memorable compositions. Throughout the whole film, I kept wondering in the back of my head that I should be seeing way more of the movie than I am. It ultimately feels more limiting than anything else. Edwards is one of the best in the biz when it comes to the portrayal of scale, and the aspect ratio hinders that quality because there isn’t much that can be fit onto the screen.

The Creator has become a bit of a poster child among film geeks for being the kind of movie Hollywood invests in these days. The big budget, studio released genre picture that is purely from the mind of its creators, and not a comic book or a video game or a novel or anything of the sort. It is truly thrilling to see the resources placed in these filmmakers’ hands, and being able to deliver a film that was done seemingly on their own terms for the most part. So few filmmakers get opportunities like this, and it is very difficult to give them the tough love treatment because we all want to see more movies like this. I will say that while I certainly had my critiques, I still think the film is worth watching. Despite my reservations, it has many elements that I did love. Even outside of the accomplishments that went into the production, there are sequences that are true standouts, the performances are solid, and I was moved to tears by the climax. However, as much as we might have the impulse to see a film like this being released at a time when IP is king and celebrate what it isn’t, it is just as important to fully recognize everything that the film does encompass, warts and all. It’s really the least you can do.

The Creator is now out in theaters.