The Creator: Gareth Edwards’ New Science Fiction Proposal
Gareth Edwards, the director of Rogue One, presents his latest science fiction proposal, The Creator. The film, anticipated for its prodigious ambition, showcases Edwards’ expertise in special effects, making the visual aspect of the film incredibly powerful. The Creator is set to hit theaters on September 29th, but not everything is as perfect as one might expect.
The story of The Creator follows Joshua, a human living in a futuristic world at war due to artificial intelligence. After many years of coexistence and development, using artificial intelligence to make life easier, the United States suffers a brutal attack that leads to a massacre caused by AI. In response, AI is not only banned in the West, but a war is declared against all intelligent robots on the planet. In Asian republics, AI continues to thrive, forcing the United States to develop a massive tracking ship to locate them. Meanwhile, Joshua, a special forces agent, is given the mission to find and eliminate the Creator. This person is responsible for designing the most advanced AI, to the point of creating a weapon capable of destroying the world. The protagonist must find and deactivate this weapon, which has taken the form of a little girl. However, the loss of his wife causes him great pain and raises numerous moral questions.
The return of Gareth Edwards to science fiction is marked by a very suggestive premise. The director takes advantage of the hot topic of artificial intelligence in his favor. However, he fails to be as innovative as he aspires, disguising a mundane and sometimes misguided story with a visually stunning imagery.
Undoubtedly, The Creator’s greatest success lies in its production design. Edwards has created such a rich and vast world that it could easily generate an entire franchise of projects set within it. The influence of some of the great masters of science fiction is very palpable, from George Lucas’ droids and blasters from Star Wars to the unique landscapes of James Cameron, whom Edwards also shamelessly draws from in his story of human-machine war. Everything is perfectly measured to respond to its own logic, while also clearly conveying it to the audience. And above all, it is very visually appealing. The visuals of the film are extraordinary, filled with beautiful images that capture all attention. The director achieves this by using breathtaking landscapes and locations, combining futuristic technology with traditional designs. The result infuses a grateful touch of realism to the whole. To achieve this, Edwards and his team decided to dispense with green screens and shoot outdoors. Special effects were added later on. It is an original way of using the real world as a stylistic resource within the science fiction genre, which is explained by the fact that the director is also a specialist in that technical field. In this aspect, The Creator does not disappoint, offering a fascinating sensory experience that could certainly be expanded if the studio deems it appropriate. Additionally, young Madeleine Yuna Voyles delivers an outstanding performance as Alphie. However, the same cannot be said for John David Washington, who lacks charisma in the more subtle moments.
However, despite Edwards placing his story in an extraordinary world, everything feels strangely familiar. This is due to the fact that, narratively speaking, he uses a discourse that has been seen dozens of times before. The dynamics between humans and robots, American colonialism in Asian regions, the construction of a father-daughter relationship, and survival amid the chaos of war. The Creator is a patchwork of narratives that are well-known to the average viewer. This has the negative consequence of losing the element of surprise. The development, climax, and resolution of each subplot are so evident that within 20 minutes of the film, one can already predict the ending. All the supposedly sophisticated and contemporary moral dilemmas can already be found in many films, some of which, like Blade Runner or Terminator, are over four decades old. It is a shame that a theme like this could, and should, have been much more ambitious. During the film’s presentation in Madrid, Edwards stated that science fiction is the genre with the most potential for innovation. Paradoxically, he fails to achieve this with his movie. The potential of artificial intelligence, which as a society we are just beginning to glimpse, is completely wasted. The Creator reduces it to a simple «they are robots with their own thoughts.» And that’s it.
However, the most glaring flaw of The Creator lies in its script, or rather, in what is assumed to have been edited out. The story of Joshua and Alphie, with its epic and intimate undertones, has clear foundations. Underneath all the futuristic war setting lies a story about humanity and empathy. For something like this to work, the characters need adequate development. Unfortunately, this is lacking in the film. The relationship between the two starts off as that of any couple destined to understand each other. They hate each other and come from completely different worlds. From there, The Creator promises a classic arc. Slowly but surely, they will connect and bond until they become inseparable. Without going far, and taking advantage of the post-apocalyptic context, this is what makes The Last of Us such a acclaimed and beloved story. However, it is poorly executed here. This development happens in fits and starts. In one scene, they can’t even exchange a glance, but in the next, they have a deep and heartfelt conversation as if they had gained tons of trust in a blink of an eye. There is often no clear reason presented for their relationship to progress as it does. It is possible that in the complete film as originally conceived, this was addressed with more care. But in the over two-hour runtime of The Creator, Edwards fails to make it feel organic and natural. In the end, we have no choice but to reluctantly accept it and go along with it.
In addition to this, the film’s biggest sin is its relentless repetition. After a promising start, everything goes downhill. The great premise becomes a constant repetition of the same formula during its prolonged second act. The protagonists must go from point A to point B. When they succeed, the villains find them and attack. Somehow, the heroes manage to escape and seek refuge at point C. Once again, they are discovered and attacked. And so on, over and over again. When The Creator finally breaks free from this vicious cycle, what follows does not improve the situation. The ending is so rushed that in each scene, everything changes drastically compared to the situation just two minutes prior. It is a suffocating conclusion that is inevitably full of inconsistencies (which we won’t reveal here to avoid spoilers). On the positive side of the script, there are some moderately inspired conversations, as expected in a film like this. There are also three or four emotional scenes that, aside from the deus ex machina that generates them (everything conveniently aligns to make them happen, although the reasons are not always clear), strongly appeal to the viewer’s emotions.
In conclusion, The Creator is not a bad film. Its main flaw is not being as ambitious as it could have been. It has many admirable aspects, such as its production design and certain inspired moments in the script. However, it falls short when it comes to originality and character development, leaving the audience with a sense of familiarity and missed potential. Despite these setbacks, Edwards’ visual prowess and the captivating premise make The Creator an interesting film to watch for science fiction enthusiasts.
