Starting my review of the creator with some comments on the acting, I'm surprised at how meteoric John David Washington's rise to the top has been. He's a good actor for sure but he's not just ascending the staircase, he's jumping a few steps at a time. He's anchoring the Creator as our protagonist Joshua. I think he's good in the movie, he's brooding for what feels like most of the run time but when he's given a chance to either be funny in short bursts or vulnerable near the end, he gets the job done. Madeleine Yuna Voyles is fine as Alphie, she accomplishes what's required in any given scene and by the end of the movie, she does what she can in regards to selling the bond her character has with Joshua. It's hard to deliver a noteworthy performance as a child actor/actress and she's better than passable. I keep waiting for the Gemma Chan's breakout role but this is one of her better performances as Maya. She has chemistry with Washington but she's given little to do on her own. She's appropriately cast and she sticks the landing in her part. My two favourite performances were from the veteran members of the supporting cast in Ken Watanabe and Allison Janney as Harun and Colonel Howell respectively. Janney pushes the envelope just far enough without descending into being a cartoon character, her character's palpable hatred for the Simulants creates tension and the amount of disdain she conveys through just a look is impressive. Watanabe brings strength to Harun when he needs to but there's also a lot of warmth when his character is bonding with Alphie.
Despite some solid work from the cast overall, I'd bet what's probably going to draw your attention in the marketing material for The Creator is the design of this dystopian world and how the war between humans and A. I. dazzles on the big screen. Gareth Edwards and his team weren't working with pennies but this is as impressive of a display for a science fiction movie that I've seen in quite a while. The cinematography is fantastic, the character design of the robots evoked Neil Blomkamp's work for me in the best way without ripping it off and the action set pieces are memorable enough to hold your interest. The movie is just as fantastical (or grounded depending on your opinion on the future of artificial intelligence) as any other sci-fi epic, but there's a beautiful mix of real imagination that keeps the movie grounded just enough that you can still take it seriously. I found it disarming that it was so excellently realized and even if you aren't enthralled by the story, The Creator is still a delight from a visual perspective.
I would describe The Creator as story driven as opposed to character driven but we spend enough time with Joshua, Alphie and their friends and enemies to get to know them. I liked the work done on the characters but I wasn't emotionally invested in whether Josh and Maya were going to reunite or if Alphie would make it away safely. I don't want to point the finger at the scriptwriters or the creative team, I was left wondering how much of this movie had been cut out and left on the cutting room floor. Scenes normally required to get us to invest in some of these relationships (e.g. Josh & Alfie, Josh & Shipley or Colonel Howell & McBride) felt like they were missing to me. I don't want to complain about the run time because The Creator isn't a short movie but I was left wondering if they cleaved off a little more than they should have.
My most prominent problem with The Creator was how easy to guess the overall arc of the plot was. I didn't discern what it was going to do minute by minute but you can get where the story will start, advance to and finish largely from the trailer. There are some surprises here and there but if you zoom out and observe the macro progression of the plot, this ground has been covered before. Cliche seems a little harsh of a description but The Creator still lacks something bold in where it decides to venture and I was a little disappointed by that.
The Creator really falls between a 7-8 for me but this is one of the rare situations where I'm going to round down. The film is still a spectacle and if you can get over that the plot is a little recycled in certain respects, there's a lot here to enjoy. Gareth Edwards and his team deserve kudos for making The Creator a worthy theatre experience. But I still wasn't blown-away by this movie and I wanted it to really kick into the next gear to get past the 8/10 mark. The Creator is a solid science fiction adventure that is worth checking out on the biggest screen you can but outside of it's CGI and visual sensibilities, I don't think it will have the staying power to make the huge impact it's clearly swinging for.
Despite some solid work from the cast overall, I'd bet what's probably going to draw your attention in the marketing material for The Creator is the design of this dystopian world and how the war between humans and A. I. dazzles on the big screen. Gareth Edwards and his team weren't working with pennies but this is as impressive of a display for a science fiction movie that I've seen in quite a while. The cinematography is fantastic, the character design of the robots evoked Neil Blomkamp's work for me in the best way without ripping it off and the action set pieces are memorable enough to hold your interest. The movie is just as fantastical (or grounded depending on your opinion on the future of artificial intelligence) as any other sci-fi epic, but there's a beautiful mix of real imagination that keeps the movie grounded just enough that you can still take it seriously. I found it disarming that it was so excellently realized and even if you aren't enthralled by the story, The Creator is still a delight from a visual perspective.
I would describe The Creator as story driven as opposed to character driven but we spend enough time with Joshua, Alphie and their friends and enemies to get to know them. I liked the work done on the characters but I wasn't emotionally invested in whether Josh and Maya were going to reunite or if Alphie would make it away safely. I don't want to point the finger at the scriptwriters or the creative team, I was left wondering how much of this movie had been cut out and left on the cutting room floor. Scenes normally required to get us to invest in some of these relationships (e.g. Josh & Alfie, Josh & Shipley or Colonel Howell & McBride) felt like they were missing to me. I don't want to complain about the run time because The Creator isn't a short movie but I was left wondering if they cleaved off a little more than they should have.
My most prominent problem with The Creator was how easy to guess the overall arc of the plot was. I didn't discern what it was going to do minute by minute but you can get where the story will start, advance to and finish largely from the trailer. There are some surprises here and there but if you zoom out and observe the macro progression of the plot, this ground has been covered before. Cliche seems a little harsh of a description but The Creator still lacks something bold in where it decides to venture and I was a little disappointed by that.
The Creator really falls between a 7-8 for me but this is one of the rare situations where I'm going to round down. The film is still a spectacle and if you can get over that the plot is a little recycled in certain respects, there's a lot here to enjoy. Gareth Edwards and his team deserve kudos for making The Creator a worthy theatre experience. But I still wasn't blown-away by this movie and I wanted it to really kick into the next gear to get past the 8/10 mark. The Creator is a solid science fiction adventure that is worth checking out on the biggest screen you can but outside of it's CGI and visual sensibilities, I don't think it will have the staying power to make the huge impact it's clearly swinging for.