High hopes for Gareth Edward’s The Creator left me confused, to say the least. Before we get into the real review, it’s important to say that I would still recommend this movie, as the visual effects are a delight to the viewer.
The Creator starts with an explanation of the world set in 2065. Self-aware robots have been integrated into society, and technology has made major jumps. Unfortunately, the robots destroy Los Angeles, obliterating it with a nuke from…somewhere. Upon this tragedy, the US outlaws all AI.
Meanwhile, in “New Asia,” a mixing pot of every Asian society somewhere in Southeast Asia, AI is harbored and protected. The US, fearful of another nuclear attack, builds NOMAD.
NOMAD is a bajillion-dollar space station that hovers above New Asia and is allowed to bomb the country whenever it feels like…? I guess New Asia doesn’t have a government to fight NOMAD, even though they have a pretty efficient AI police force and a seemingly prospering economy. If this isn’t making sense, don’t worry–it gets worse.
The movie focuses on the relationship between the main character Joshua (John David Washington), and a technological superweapon in the form of a little girl named Alphie (Madeleine Yuna Voyles). Joshua is a soldier hired by the US to find the “super weapon.” After having his wife (Gemma Chan) killed in New Asia when he was undercover a few years ago, Joshua is reluctant to return to duty but agrees after seeing footage of his wife, alive and well.
Most of the movie involves Joshua and Alphie going from one New Asian city to another, just until NOMAD blows the city up. Now, when I first saw the trailer, I’ll be honest–I thought it was a live-action version of Akira (go search it up if you don’t know what I’m talking about). Alphie is shown in a giant vault and has semi-telekinetic powers, and the movie starts with the destruction of a major city. By the time I saw all that, I was hoping that it would be similar to Akira, but I was disappointed with the result.
By the time the movie gets going, things fall apart. Since most of the movie takes place in New Asia, most of the inhabitants speak either Chinese, Japanese, or any other East Asian language. By “speak,” I mean they’ll say a few phrases and then revert to English for no reason. In addition, the US has ground forces based in New Asia. I’m not sure why the US government was allowed to have multiple giant tanks sitting around in the forest, but I suppose they could have NOMAD too, so why not?
A lot of the movie acts as a sort of cautionary tale, showing us the way we must be willing to live with the consequences of creating sentient beings through technology. The US’s ruthless killing of AI is certainly a message of how life is so often disregarded, but the morals get a bit lost since those in New Asia are unwilling to fight back in the war. They’ve developed a super weapon, they have plenty of guns and flying cars, and yet they’re still getting bombed every twenty minutes.
Despite my many, many criticisms, I still enjoyed watching The Creator quite a bit. Many of my complaints are quite nitpicky, and the overall film is quite fun. The designs were great, and the visuals were done incredibly well. Watching it in the theater was a fun experience and probably the best way to truly appreciate all of the details. The film has recently left theaters, but it is expected to be streaming on either Hulu or Disney Plus.