For me when the war begins between us and AI rest assured, I will be in the war tank supporting Siri and Alexa… don’t ask me no questions! We know it’s coming; I’ve picked my side and I’m cool with it! See you on the battlefield! Welcome to the world of The Creator.
The Creator is set in a future impacted by war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence. It follows an ex-special forces agent, Joshua, grieving the disappearance of his wife, is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war and mankind itself. Joshua and his team of elite operatives journey across enemy lines, into the dark heart of AI-occupied territory, only to discover the world-ending weapon he was instructed to destroy is an AI in the form of a young child. It’s a powerful, thought-provoking story which really brings a fresh take to the sci-fi genre.
John David Washington continues on his own path, distancing himself from his father’s shadow and making his own name with an astonishing performance as Joshua. His ability to engage his emotions are so convincing and expressive here as he sits in the driver seat to take us through this dramatic tone of the movie. He really brings the levels. Believe it or not John had competition on set and it came in the form of 7-year-old Madeleine Yuna Voyles who plays the titular character, Alphie. She’s cute, she’s innocent, she’s emotional and she pulls it in altogether and carries this monumental movie on her shoulders. Gemma Chan plays Maya in a small but important role. Doesn’t feel like a role she hasn’t done before so she slotted in perfectly. Allisson Janey plays our villain of the story as Colonel Howell. Very militant, stern and ruthless. She has little character development however she does the character justice. Ken Watanabe was one my favourite characters. Back to his best in the honourable, loyal general always willing to sacrifice. He’s always a joy to watch. It was a good cast from voice actors playing the AI characters to the foot soldiers.
Filmed over 8 different real-life locations around Thailand we are blessed with some visuals. With vast lands stretching across green farmlands to prayer temples embedded with practical effects showcasing robotic statues with added machinery to fit into the theme of the movie… it’s a visual spectacle. The special effects are so clean it fits right in. Gun shots, explosions, robots feel more practical than CGI as it’s having a good balance.
Shot with IMAX equipment they fully utilised the audio and visual cues.
Hans Zimmer of course of the scores adding to the sizeable sentiments on deck. The design of the AI characters staggering. An approach mimicking the design of the Ex Machina-characters. The creative choice to remove ears but keep the human face with a human neck just makes you feel the emotions of these robots feel more real where you actually start to care. A series of flashbacks are used to push the narrative and used very well. The film is broken up into chapters with their own titles to help point the viewers focus which is a nice touch. This format I find always helps the duration feel a lot shorter. Gareth Edwards really delivers in the production capturing his Rogue One feel in this film and we appreciated it highly.
You hear sci-fi + robots + AI and you just picture all out action, Star Wars Trekky type vibes but its really not the case. There’s heart here. There’s soul. This is a full-on emotional drama with minimal action and yet you’re fully sucked in and attached. The plots around love and romance are weighted and heavy, so embedded in the journey of our characters. They touch on family connections, loss, grief, sacrifice and all. Character interactions like with Joshua and Alphie are engrossing as we see their characters evolve from strangers to family. The story is nice and smooth and comes full circle giving it a very wholesome conclusion. Its garnered comparisons to Avatar with the whole undercover agent turning native which is fair but this does stand on its own 2 feet. It’s a story which would have thrived around 20 years ago when the culture was humans versus robots but it still works today.
I loved it and I’m actually hoping for a sequel or even better a whole universe to be birthed from this. Newcomer Madeleine is definitely one to keep an eye out for and John is still flourishing stepping out of that rising star cloud to be the established monster he’s destined to be. Made for the IMAX experience so I fully recommend it.
Which side would you fight for? Do you think AI have feelings? Do you trust Siri? Do you want a sequel? How about a Creator Universe? React and comment below…
First of all I felt like I was watching The Goldsn Childans just waiting for Eddie Murphy to show up then it started to get serious, And said tomysslf is this an opener or what.
Quality acting and very touching movie although very predictable from the start was a good watch I enjoyed it.
And I’m now prepared and know what to do should I fall into a similar situation