The Creator - Review: The Future Has Arrived

 

Any kind of original film in today’s Hollywood landscape can feel like a miracle, but a two-plus-hour long, science fiction drama not based on any pre-existing material feels like an especially rare occurrence. But with Gareth Edwards (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “Godzilla (2014)”) directing and co-writing with Chris Weitz (“About a Boy,” “American Pie”), and the world sitting in the middle of a hot-button discussion of AI, there’s massive potential to deliver an emotional, original science fiction epic with “The Creator.” 

Set in 2070, the film follows undercover agent Joshua Taylor, played by John David Washington (“BlacKkKlansman,” “Tenet”), reeling from the death of his wife Maya Fey, played by Gemma Chan (“Eternals,” “Crazy Rich Asians”), five years prior. He’s recruited by the U.S. government to go undercover into the country of New Asia to find and destroy a weapon developed by NIRMATA to fight on the side of AI in a global war. However, after finding a young girl named Alphie, played by Madeline Yuna Voyles, instead, he takes her on the run from his handler Colonel Howell, played by Allison Janney (“I, Tonya,” “Juno”), in an attempt to save her and prevent further destruction and war. 

Washington and Voyles have fantastic familial banter with each other, quickly and easily selling the father daughter relationship the film is building. Their chemistry is the lifeblood of the film and really sells everything else that happens around them. Janney, meanwhile, gets to be a bit more forceful than in her other roles and does a good job with the material. Chan does feel painfully underutilized, as she’s fantastic when she’s onscreen but the nature of her character’s story means she isn’t there much. 

Shot in gloriously wide 2.76:1 aspect ratio, the film’s scope is immense and overwhelming, framed expertly by cinematographers Greig Fraser (“The Batman,” “Zero Dark Thirty”) and Oren Soffer (“Allswell in New York,” “A Nightmare Wakes”). Much has been made of the film’s shockingly small budget compared to similar contemporary films like it, and Edwards manages to squeeze as much detail and beauty from each shot as possible given those constraints. 

It's further bolstered by truly impressive visual effects that adhere to every small detail from water to clothing fibers. It would be an impressive display for any film, made even more so when you consider it was made for less than a third of the budget of films like “The Way of Water” or “Quantumania.” The musical score, from composer Hans Zimmer (“The Lion King,” “Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl”), helps to expertly set the stage for the action and emotions, turning in one of his better scores in the recent years of his career. 

The cinematography is gorgeous, the visual effects are stunning, and the performances are great. So, what’s not to like then? Well, it's unfortunate that these elements and the potential of this story are somewhat squandered by an overly generic third act that somewhat sours the overall story. It ends up turning it all into a much more generic action movie. It's not hard to see Edwards and Weitz building to a more philosophical or complicated conclusion, as the hints are through the entire rest of the film. It's just unfortunate that it ends in such a way, almost betraying the film’s earlier most interesting aspects. What it does still manage, even within its more generic aspects, is to maintain a healthy amount of soul and heart. A lot of that comes from Washington and Voyles and their impressive chemistry, but an equal part comes from Edwards and Weitz’s commitment to, even in the familiar, establish a clear heart and soul for this world and adventure. 

Therefore, what we’re left with is a very gorgeous film that somewhat cheapens out on the end result of things. Which isn’t an indictment by any means. After so many creatively bankrupt franchise films, any kind of original action drama is appreciated, even if it does go for a more generic ending. It's still got the performances to back it up, and again it is gorgeous to watch. At the end of the day, sometimes that’s all that matters: an original, if familiar, pretty adventure. 3.5/5