The Creator
Directed by Gareth Edwards
Written by Gareth Edwards and Chris Weitz
Starring John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Madeleine Yuna Voyle, Ken Wanatabe, Allison Janney 
Rated PG-13
Runtime: 2 hours, 13 minutes
In theaters September 29

by Ryan Silberstein, Managing Editor, Red Herring

The Creator feels like a miracle of a movie. An original science fiction blockbuster not based on any preexisting work with legitimate movie stars, with an auteur director left to his own devices feels like a rare occurrence (unless that director’s name is Christopher Nolan). It is time to add Gareth Edwards’ name to that list alongside the Wachowski sisters, Jordan Peele, Ridley Scott, and James Cameron. After an acclaimed debut with Monsters, and then franchise entries Godzilla and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Edwards has returned–bringing along Rogue One collaborators Chris Weitz and Greig Fraser helping with writing and cinematography duties–with a fully original script about a future where the United States is at war with artificial intelligence (AI).

As MovieJawn Staff Writer Tessa Swehla outlined earlier this week, humans and AI have been locked in a cyclical war for decades, at least within the science fiction genre. Here, we are presented with a reality where robotics and artificial life is much further along than in our own timeline, and increasing tensions leads to the detonation of a nuclear weapon in Los Angeles. The U.S. declares war on AI and the robots find refuge in New Asia (a new country that comprises Vietnam, Thailand, and a few other Southeast Asian nations). A few years later, Joshua (John David Washington), an ex-special forces soldier, is brought back into the military for one last job: finding a new weapon created by AI supporters that supposedly will counter the U.S. weapon NOMAD–a terrifying mobile orbital defense base that lights up the ground below and can pummel any location on earth with missiles very easily. This threatens the balance of power in the war to date. When Joshua locates the weapon, he finds a small android child (Madeleine Yuna Voyle), and winds up running with her rather than killing her. 

There’s a lot of elements to The Creator that are clear influences. Edwards references Apocalypse Now, Blade Runner, and Akira in his vision of a Southeast Asian cyberpunk-meets-Apple aesthetic, as well as in some of the story beats and philosophical ideas he is exploring here. But the way these elements are synthesized together gives The Creator a distinct look as well as feel. Thinking about how Edwards is his own camera operator–making his collaboration with cinematographers Greig Fraser and Oren Soffer a bit different from most–points to the director’s visual hallmarks. He has a roving, almost documentary eye with the camera, felt across all four of his features so far, but the scale and scope of The Creator feels the most attuned to his approach. Like Godzilla and Rogue One, Edwards tells a big story from the point of view of people on the ground, and the scenes of Joshua and Alphie moving through Southeast Asia–all shot on location–capture that feeling better than anything else he has done so far.

There is a decent amount of exposition around what is actually a fairly simple story of a man and child on the run, and I am already looking forward to repeat viewings to fully mine all of the rich details out of the world set forth here. There’s so much density within the story world that watching it feels like reading a novel, but it never overshadows the journey of Joshua and Alphie (Joshua ends up naming her). The production design is incredible, clearly drawing on some of the same influences that Lucas did for the original Star Wars, which Edwards brought through when making Rogue One. While there are elements that feel shiny and new, the cars, robots, and other technology captures that “used universe” feel that made Star Wars the aesthetic opposite of Star Trek. It feels like it has been a while since we had such a deeply designed future, and it feels like a welcome outcome of Edwards’ time working with Lucasfilm. 

Those overly concerned by “plot holes” or needing every element of a film to make realistic sense may feel abandoned on the shore of this one, but allowing yourself to go with the flow makes for a deeply satisfying experience. Edwards is clearly more focused on the metaphoric elements of this conflict, evoking American imperialism in Vietnam, refugee and immigration issues, and ethics of war than saying anything about the rise of “AI” “tools” like ChatGPT or NightCafe. The Creator isn’t about robots replacing humans, but more concerned with the way humans will oppress, control, and even seek to eradicate anything identified as an “other.” Colonel Howell (Allison Janney), when trying to recruit Joshua, compares humanity and AI to the way earlier humans may have wiped out Neanderthals. While the U.S. military is eager to represent AI as a threat, everything we see in New Asia suggests that robots and humans are largely coexisting peacefully, and may even be evolving together. 

The Creator itself may mark a kind of evolution in its own right. Made for $80 million, it looks better than many recent films budgeted at twice or three times that amount. One major choice for this was shooting on location and painting digital effects over the footage after editing was complete. Most effects-heavy films are shot on green screens or with Stagecraft, and visual effects are heavily previsualized, which may be necessary to maintain a franchise pipeline. But The Creator was also written to expressly be a single film, telling a complete story over its runtime. This kind of “midbudget” blockbuster may be a new path forward for Hollywood, especially when comparing the look of this to the reported $90 million budget for the Obi-Wan Disney+ series. The Creator is one of the most interesting (and best-looking) movies of the year, and potentially an example on how Hollywood can reign in budgets and allow for more stories that are original and take chances. I’m already looking forward to seeing it again, and unpacking even more of its ideas and themes while basking in its visuals.