Tripwire Reviews Gareth Edwards’ The Creator

Apocalypse Again

Gareth Edwards’ The Creator is in cinemas now and here’s Tripwire’s senior editor Andrew Colman reviewing it…

Gareth Edwards’ future shock flick is an earnest effort in cross pollination, yet it is a classic example, like all superhero movies (for example), of playing it as safe as possible within the usual constraining parameters. It does have a bit more meat on the bone than the spandex fodder, to be fair, but its obvious influences – Star Wars (made somewhat obvious by the film’s poster), Apocalypse Now, Dances with Wolves, Blade Runner and Nolan-esque stylings only allow for diminishing returns, and what is a very old-school movie if you ignore its trappings.

John David Washington stars in this post-apocalyptic yarn, where America is at war against “New Asia” after AI simulants nuked Los Angeles. America is determined about eradicating AI beings, while New Asia promotes co-existence between them and humans. The predictable upshot is America’s building of a trillion-dollar war machine designed to wipe out AI, and anyone who stands in its way. Step forward Joshua (John David Washington) a hardened former soldier enlisted by the American government to track down the forces of AI, who have developed a next generation “creator” simulant that they believe has sufficient power to defeat mankind.

Gemma Chan as Maya in 20th Century Studios’ THE CREATOR. Photo by Oren Soffer. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

John David Washington as Joshua in 20th Century Studios’ THE CREATOR. Photo by Oren Soffer. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Madeleine Yuna Voyles as Alphie in 20th Century Studios’ THE CREATOR. Photo by Oren Soffer. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

There are certainly pluses in this project, even if such tropes have been mined since the days of Asimov and Bradbury – what it means to be human, how human can artificially developed beings actually be, the concept of empathy being exclusive to humans, etc. The key and perhaps only subversion here is that it is America that is the enemy in this picture, with Joshua, having lost his wife Maya (Gemma Chan) to American forces eventually (and somewhat predictably, otherwise there’d be no story) betraying his gung ho comrades as they go in search of The Creator. The film’s premise and concepts certainly carry more weight than most action movies, but in the end any message or nuance takes a distant second place to logistics and convention – this is a production that wants to be taken seriously but never dispenses with formula, which is a shame given how timely and relevant the premise of this movie actually is.

A scene still from 20th Century Studios’ THE CREATOR. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

A scene still from 20th Century Studios’ THE CREATOR. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

A scene still from 20th Century Studios’ THE CREATOR. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

As far as the acting is concerned, John David Washington is a competent protagonist, but despite this he isn’t capable of providing more than a workmanlike performance – either this is due to the limitations of the material, or he doesn’t quite have that leading man quality to bring something vital to the role that could transcend this somewhat pulpy actioner. Ken Watanabe is fine as the main AI character, but he has little to do beyond exposition – it’s the villains of the piece, particularly the excellent Allison Janney as the ruthless commanding officer Colonel Jean Howell who effectively steals the show, but sadly doesn’t have enough screen time. She and her government enforcers add a crucial amount of grit to the proceedings, which at least suffuses the rather hurried and over the top finale with something approaching drama.

To its considerable credit the film looks fantastic, its location footage just outstanding, redolent of Vietnam movies such as the aforementioned Apocalypse Now, especially when the AI villages are massacred (the body count in this film is excessive). As an exercise in immersive world building it really scores, but in the end it’s still a slick if moderately ambitious sci-fi movie with token pretensions.

A scene still from 20th Century Studios’ THE CREATOR. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

A scene still from 20th Century Studios’ THE CREATOR. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

(L-R): Madeleine Yuna Voyles as Alphie and Director Glen Milner on the set of 20th Century Studios’ THE CREATOR. Photo by Glen Milner. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Ultimately The Creator feels like a missed opportunity – it plays reasonably well and despite being unwieldy and repetitive in places it doesn’t outstay its welcome. What it lacks is the daring to be more off the wall – the scene where Josh is lectured by his government handlers about homo sapiens wiping out the Neanderthals is an interesting hook, but it never goes further than that level of framing. And I would also say that a character actor as the lead might’ve been far more of a draw – the movie needed an anti-hero as its focus rather than a reactive and sympathetic alpha male.

But that’s genre.

The Creator is out in cinemas now. Here’s the film’s trailer

Check Out A Full Trailer For 20th Century Studios’ The Creator