In the near future, humanity has a fraught relationship with AI; the eastern part of the world has embraced the technology while the west seeks to destroy it after AI launched an attack on Los Angeles.  Joshua (John David Washington), a military operative, is sent deep undercover to New Asia to search for Nirmata, an advanced coder who intel says has created the Alpha-O (Madeleine Yuna Voyles) weapon capable of destroying NOMAD, a massive US airship.  Living so close to AI has started to shift Joshua’s perspective, but after he learns that his wife, Maya (Gemma Chan), was not killed in a raid five years prior and is actually alive, he puts his allegiances aside and will stop at nothing to be reunited with her. 

Gareth Edwards brings his post-harmonious AI epic, The Creator, to screens courtesy of Twentieth Century Studios after he wowed the bosses with an incredible proof of concept.  The film relies very heavily on real locations and practical effects to give it a tangible sense not often seen in films of this scale, scope, and genre.  Running 133 minutes, Edwards has a lot of ground to cover, and with Chris Weitz‘s assistance on the page, they quickly and efficiently get through the heavy exposition needed for audiences to enter into this world.  With two other major titles under his belt to date, Godzilla (2014) and Rouge One: A Star Wars Story (2016), The Creator seems to be a natural blend of Edward’s interests in storytelling resulting in a very passionate parable about the human condition. 

Leading the action is Joshua, a soldier who is deep undercover but left military life behind when his pregnant wife was killed in a raid.  Visited by Col. Howell (Allison Janney) and recruited back into the fight against AI and the search for Nirmata, Joshua becomes the focus point and the driver of the narrative, but unfortunately, Washington is burdened with a poorly written role making for a dull protagonist.  Since his breakout in Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman (2018), Washington has worked with some of the most interesting directors in the business but unfortunately finds himself as the leading man in what is collectively some of their lesser works so he has not quite reached that same high he achieved when he was with Lee.  Janney, likewise, as the antagonist, is also stitched together with all the tropes and jargon one can expect from an American military commander in a Sci-Fi film and is not given much in the way of development to build her character or make her an interesting villain.  The other main player in the drama is Alpha-O, and while Voyles in her debut role does fine and feels comfortable in front of the camera, she too is weighed down by the misaligned script with few lines and gives audiences little reason to empathize with her other than we know that we are supposed to.   

It may be an unfair criticism to take against the film, but the weekend of its initial release fell just days after the WGA and AMPTP came to an agreement of terms ending a months-long strike where the use of AI was a major sticking point.  SAG-AFTRA, at the time of release, had still not been met with since they had gone on strike later in the summer, again with major concerns about how the studios would exploit the members of the guild by using AI to scan their likeness for use in perpetuity.  Edwards’ film puts audiences in an impossible position; side with AI or side with the Industrial Military Complex.  For those in the audience without any skin in the game, The Creator becomes a punishing experience, at least on a narrative level. 

The film’s saving grace is in its visuals, opting instead of massive green screen environments, to shoot on location in Thailand and spend its effects budget to supplement the futuristic, slightly dystopian country of New Asia.  This process lends the film an immediate sense of tangibility that few of its contemporaries can share in.  The world of the film looks not too dissimilar from our own, but there are flourishes in the landscape design where massive hubs have been erected across the countryside to facilitate military operations.  It is a little unclear about the more granular aspects of this new society, and while it ultimately does not make an impact on the final outcome of the story, the almost total lack of consideration given to the societal structure makes New Asia and this populous of robots feel far less thought out than it initially presents itself. 

The major conceit of the film is that the East has totally embraced AI which ushered in a major boom in technology and functionality, and to Edwards’ credit, The Creator treats its robots as if they were human in ways we have not seen before.  Looking past the hole in the back of their skulls where their ears would be, they otherwise look, dress, and act as humans do, showing empathy and raising families, resting in between chores and work; it goes far beyond the sentience of a mere supercomputer and these bots actually feel alive. But there are also, for lack of a better term, other “classes” of AI that look more traditionally robotic and droid-like.  There is no distinction made between the various builds, and while it is nice to see a vision of the future that is only partially war-torn instead of having totally succumbed to global violence, the multiple builds and themes of harmony bring up some major questions about what makes us the same and what makes us different.  Alpha-O is tasked with making us care about these robots, pleading to Joshua until he realizes humans and robots are one and the same, and while it is a very heavy-handed metaphor against racism and xenophobia and promoting the unity of the human race, that the AI bots are exclusively modeled off of Asian culture and features, this kumbayah message because perversely and unintentionally other-ing. It does not feel malicious in its intent, but rather just good-natured obliviousness.  In this way, The Creator is reminiscent of James Cameron‘s Avatar (2009); another visually exciting sci-fi epic that is held back by a weak script and even weaker politics in an attempt to sow the seeds of unity.  

The highly anticipated film unfortunately was a bit of a letdown as far as the story is concerned, but on a technical level, it is an achievement and has a lot of merit. Edwards again proves his acuity in mounting impressive set pieces that remain profound in their humility. The scripts he chooses to direct all have a clear delineation between good and evil, and while this one lacks nuance, it still sets up a tug-of-war between the two factions so that the narrative stakes can do the heavy lifting in these pivotal scenes.  Of course, this approach falls apart in instances like The Creator where audiences may not be invested in either side, but the pattern is all there for the format to work. It also allows his third acts to be far more character-driven than explosion-based which is a stark difference from the modern trends of blockbuster filmmaking. He has always shown restraint which allows for tension to boil up in audiences and keep them engaged more so than a meele of incomprehensible fast cuts ever could. 

This is perfectly evidenced in the finale where NOMAD lets loose its entire arsenal of missiles aimed at the AI bases across New Asia. By all accounts, this is a world-ending strike, but Edwards keeps his focus almost entirely in the control room, fixed on General Andrews (Ralph Ineson) reactions. It is a very classic approach that will remind audiences of films from the 1960s and 70s, notably Joseph Sargent’s Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970), and also Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove (1964) in how the breakaways follow Joshua as he navigates across NOMAD’s exterior missile system.  The film will go on to make one final allusion to Kubrick’s body of work in mimicking the now iconic timpani drum beat from Richard Strauss’ “Also Sprach Zarathustra” which is used in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Hans Zimmer‘s score borrows this sound to play over the final shot of the film, Alpha-O’s face smiling at the disarming of NOMAD, allowing the robots to live, and signaling that she and the continued proliferation of AI is the future. Again, to be generous to Edwards, his script is about promoting peace and unity, but after such a tumultuous summer, it is hard to sympathize with a robot. 

The Creator is a victim of its own anticipation and pedigree. After two great efforts by its director, audiences were eager to see what he would deliver next. There is so much thought and care poured into his version of the future that it is still impossible not to become absorbed by the film, at least in that primitive, never-seen-this-before kind of way. Notably, Edwards was not involved in the scripting of his last two projects, and it is clear why in watching The Creator because there is much work needed on the script to really make this film something great. To reiterate, the core message of the film is all very pure but the dressing has made it an uncomfortable watch. Ignoring the fetishistic use of calligraphy in the title cards, the AI design further marginalizes the Asian population by making them the target of the United States military, and given the rise in hate crimes directed towards Asian Americans in the wake of COVID-19, the film feels very tone deaf in this way and out of touch on a subconscious level even if everything was well-intentioned. Edwards can work some magic behind the lens, but he is a director who seems to deliver his best work when operating within the frame of an existing world, bringing to life other scripts in new and unique ways. Despite our obsession and adherence to auteur theory, there still is a need for solid directors, and Edwards finds himself near the top of that list.