The Creator review – AI: artificial indulgence

It’s downright impossible to watch The Creator without thinking about all the movies that inspired it. Lack of originality may not be a crime against the sci-fi genre, but it’s a problem when the elements that make up your film’s background completely dwarf those in its foreground. Make no mistake, The Creator’s literal background is stunning. But despite all the colours and visual freshness it’s displaying, this high-profile new genre entry fails the Turing test. It also fails to deliver credible on-screen emotion to engage the viewer.

Written and directed by Gareth Edwards, the man behind 2014’s Godzilla and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Creator depicts a near-future where nuclear disaster has propelled the United States to declare war on AI. As the surviving mechanical beings fight for their lives, former military agent Joshua (played by Tenet’s John David Washington) is sent behind enemy lines to seek and destroy a suspected world-ending weapon. It’s also a chance for him to learn the truth behind the disappearance of his wife Maya (Gemma Chan).

However, the mission is complicated when Joshua discovers the deadly weapon is, in fact, a young simulant child (Madeleine Yuna Voyles). The discovery puts him at odds with the orders given to him by his commanding officers (Ralph Ineson and Allison Janney), and Joshua and the simulant are forced to go on the run. Along the way, our hero is confronted by his past actions and treatment of AI, leading up to a fight for what he truly believes in.

For all the stories he sets out to tell, Gareth Edwards has historically struggled to get audiences to care about his players. To be clear, he is still a very talented filmmaker, technically. The Creator looks and sounds like a 300 million-dollar movie when it was in actual fact made for only 80 million. This was achieved by adding visual effects only after finalising the edit, and running a very tight ship. Edwards also shot the film in a 2.76:1 ultra-wide aspect ratio. Because of that, The Creator demands the IMAX experience. The film is stunning; easily the most breath-taking visually since the last Avatar.

With a strong grip on its various creative elements, The Creator also succeeds in establishing its distinct tone and atmosphere. Hans Zimmer provides a score that sets a sombre yet resolute mood. Meanwhile, the film takes place primarily across rural Asia, and the departure from traditional sci-fi settings (it’s good to get out of neon-soaked cities and spend some time in the countryside) creates a beautiful visual juxtaposition between green farmlands and the augmented people that roam it. The world feels very organic and credible. Very quickly you come to accept that the wires and gears that poke out from behind the robots’ hairlines are just the result of biology.

Even with all its well-considered splendour, though, The Creator suffers from a lack of emotional weight. John David Washington’s character is well written and performed, and he has good interactions with his ward, but they are never given the chance to further develop their relationship. Literally, the pivot point where Joshua goes from not caring to caring about the child takes place in the space of a minute. Is it up to us to fill in the blanks? I ask because the film doesn’t motivate me enough to care. And since it takes its time between action sequences to supposedly explore this relationship, that’s a lot of blanks to fill in.

We could make jokes about how The Creator was written by an AI, but let’s not go there. Overall, the plot is generic, though it deserves credit for its subtext. The film explores the fundamentals of humanity’s relationship with AI, and how world events and cultures mutate those fundamentals. It’s an interesting take as we in the real world are busy doing the same thing. The movie also gets a big boost from the acting might of Alison Janney, whose barracks-busking attitude makes her a joy to watch whenever she’s on the screen.

And that’s the overall effect of The Creator. It, and its various parts, can be appreciated in the moment, but it’s one of those movies you’re likely to forget you even watched shortly after leaving the cinema. A film can show and tell at the same time, but it’s all for nothing if it’s unable to leave any kind of imprint on its audience.

The Creator is in cinemas, including IMAX, from 29 September.