The Creator is a contradiction. On the one hand, it’s a visually impressive movie that doesn’t rely on preexisting material, but on the other hand, its execution is somewhat disorganized, which makes it a letdown. It’s 131 minutes long and I’d say only about 95 of those minutes succeed.
The Creator takes place in the year 2065, 10 years after a nuclear war devastated Los Angeles. As a result, artificial intelligence has now been declared the world’s public enemy number one. The AI that has managed to escape now resides in a new land called New Asia, where AI is still allowed to thrive.
The U.S. government wants to recruit a former special forces agent (John David Washington) for a reconnaissance mission to New Asia to destroy the leader of the AI known as Nirmata. Washington’s character is battling personal problems after the death of his pregnant wife when their home was attacked years ago.
Washington discovers that the weapon the AI has created is a six-year-old girl named Alpha Omega (Madeleine Yuna Voyles). At first, their relationship is rocky due to the fact that Alpha doesn’t trust him, but then she reveals some secret information that gives him reason to protect her.
The movie does provide an intriguing and even stark depiction of a futuristic world in which AI will dominate our planet, which is timely, but instead of giving us a story that is stimulating, The Creator is much more content with being routine by giving us elaborate action sequences that seem to come out of a well produced video game.
Instead of allowing itself to give us some insight into its unique visions and ambitious plot, the movie merely wants to be an amalgamation of movies such as Apocalypse Now and Blade Runner. You won’t see much that you haven’t seen before that’s been done better.
Washington is an actor who gives a committed presence, and so do other actors such as Ken Watanabe and Oscar winner Allison Janney (both of whom are very effective in their roles), but ultimately they’re thrown into a story that sometimes made me care and other times made me feel indifferent.
The Creator is directed and co-written by Gareth Edwards who made Rogue One. Here, he creates a film that is a missed opportunity, given the quality of everyone involved.
Grade: B-
(Rated PG-13 for violence, some bloody images and strong language.)
