MPAA Rating: PG-13/Genre: Sci-Fi/Stars: John David Washington, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Gemma Chan, Allison Janney, Ken Watanabe, Sturgill Simpson, Amar Chadha-Patel, Marc Menchaca, Robbie Tann, Ralph Ineson, Michael Esper, Veronica Ngo/Runtime: 133 minutes
I think it’s a fairly safe statement to make that if you wanted to know the one thing in the world of the 21st century that we as human beings have perhaps the most complicated relationship with (besides ourselves of course) I without question think that one answer you might hear uttered by quite a few people would have to be artificial intelligence (or A.I. for short) and honestly is it any wonder why? I mean yes artificial intelligence has in quite a few ways made our lives significantly easier including, but not limited to, advancements in medical technology, be able to do the most run of the mill chore with a speed and efficiency that is truly mind blowing, and has given us the chance to explore new frontiers that we as a species may have never thought possible even 30 years ago. At the same time however, you can’t sit there and lie to me and tell me that you haven’t in the last week argued with Siri when she incorrectly heard what song you wanted her to play at your house party, had your GPS navigate you in such a way that either took you down a highly suspicious back alley late at night and/or resulted in you nearly getting creamed by the car next to you, or (and my own personal twisted favorite) gotten more than a single shiver down your spine when you walked into your house late at night and, with zero prodding in any way, started hear Alexa laugh in a way that you’d swear was a prelude to an exorcist declaring a demonic possession. Of course, it should also come as no surprise to learn that the land of movie magic has, for quite awhile now, picked up on this very mixed relationship that we share with A.I. and the legacy of cinema has definitely reflected that. Perhaps this is why (among others) for every Wall*E, Data, and J.A.R.V.I.S., we are also treated to such less benevolent A.I. forms as HAL, Skynet, and WOPR from War Games with even some complex ones such as The Terminator, Ava from Ex Machina, and Roy Batty from Blade Runner thrown in for good measure. Yet in all of those, it isn’t often that we get a slice of cinema where mankind actually gets pushed into such a desperate corner with artificial intelligence that armed combat erupts between the two groups. Oh sure we have the uber-complicated Terminator saga (that really should have been only two movies), but other than that we don’t really have a lot of man vs. machine films set in the midst of combat. This brings us to the new slice of cinema I am reviewing for you today, 2023’s The Creator, and honestly this movie might be flawed, but it also isn’t that bad either. To be sure, the script and story are more than just a tad bit on the cliché side which can result in you pretty much being aware of just where the narrative is going to go at pretty much every given opportunity and the dialogue making you roll your eyes and sigh. At the same time though, the rest of the work behind the camera (especially the visuals) and the performances given by the more than capable cast in front of the camera do help make up for it. Suffice it to say that The Creator might not be the next 2001: A Space Odyssey, but it also thankfully is no Terminator Genisys either.
The plot is as follows: Taking us into a possible future for our species, The Creator gets underway by telling us that in the year 2050, a form of artificial intelligence which had been created by no less an entity than the government of the United States decided that co-existing with us people just wasn’t as peachy of an arrangement as they had been led to believe. As a result, they engaged in what many would consider to be the ultimate in divorce proceedings. Namely no more or less than deciding to detonate a nuke over the locale of Los Angeles, California. As a result, I think it’s safe to say that the United States and their allies in the West were more than just a wee bit irked by this choice which is perhaps why they soon declared a resolution consisting of no more or less than a promise to eradicate every single bit of AI off the face of the planet. A choice that, not only am I sure upset fans of Siri, but also was met (big surprise) with a fair amount of criticism and resistance with perhaps the most noteworthy group being a country known as New Asia. A place located in (where else) Asia that saw its denizens make the choice to permit AI to reside peacefully among them whilst also making advancements in terms of the technology. Seeing this as an act of defiance, we see that the United States decides to permit their military to get involved. Not just in their efforts to eliminate AI off the face of the Earth, but to also “dispose of” the enigmatic individual responsible for the AI upgrades in New Asia known solely as “Nirmata”. From there, the film moves ahead a few years as we watch as the relationship between an undercover Army operative named Joshua Taylor and a New Asia woman named Maya who he was sent to investigate for….reasons ends more than just a wee bit on the badly side. 5 more years later and we see that, in the ensuing time, Taylor has been delegated to being a part of the clean-up team operating at what was ground zero in Los Angeles. It isn’t long though before we see that our hero is approached by two higher-ups in the military with a new mission. A mission that consists of heading back to New Asia and obliterating a new weapon that has been created by the elusive Nirmata. Things soon take a turn though when Taylor uncovers that the weapon he has been ordered to destroy is in fact a robotic little girl he comes to name Alphie. However when Taylor learns that this girl has a connection to someone very important from his past, we see that decides to go rogue and take off with the little robot that could to try and find that person before the military can get to them first. As for who that is, what the military really wants from this robot, and if our dynamic duo are successful or not that I will leave for you to discover for yourself dear reader….
Now right off, it is worth noting that the work done behind the camera on this slice of cinema is very much the definition of a mixed bag. Perhaps the key reason being this film’s narrative really doesn’t offer anything that we as movie goers haven’t seen before and is extremely predictable in the worst way possible. Indeed unlike a slice of cinema say the most recent entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise where we saw an action film investigate the complicated morals behind a malevolent AI in the modern world, this slice of cinema is not content to do so. Instead, it makes the choice to utilize AI as a tool to showcase how the United States has engaged in arguably unnecessary conflict on numerous occasions since their inception as a nation. Yet as exasperating as that narrative hook may be to some, we also see that this film even more alarmingly is unable to do much that is either novel or revelatory with even that. As a result, this winds up seeing the film possess a narrative that not only is run of the mill in every way possible, but can’t even get its major reveals or emotional points to work in the way that they really ought to. Thankfully, we see that the rest of the work behind the camera is able to pick up the slack to a fair extent and help this still work to a fairly commendable level. This starts with the fact that, right from the word go, this film from a visual perspective is absolutely jaw-dropping and even more so when you find out that this slice of cinema was actually made with a budget of only (I kid you not dear reader) 80 million dollars. Perhaps the key element to that degree of success would have to be the fact that, unlike a lot of mainstream films of a similar ilk, this slice of cinema makes the creative choice to both film in as many real-world locations such as Thailand as they could as well as utilizing practical effects whenever possible thus ensuring we’re not dealing with a lot of mind-numbing CGI. With that in mind though, I also feel that although the visual effects on display in this film most assuredly do deserve praise, the work done in the cinematography department by dynamic duo Greig Fraser and Oren Soffer should also be praised too. Indeed with such works to his name as Foxcatcher, 2021’s Dune, and The Batman, there is no denying that Fraser’s talents are very much apparent in how this film is not only able to conjure up a riveting and lively locale that is able to try and strive for more, pardon the pun, down to Earth emotion as much as it aims to take this film to the more majestic stature it consistently aspires for yet never quite is able to attain. Suffice it to say that when you also manage to incorporate a rousing musical accompaniment from iconic film composer Hans Zimmer among other elements there is no denying that the work behind the camera might be mixed, but there is definitely more good here than bad.
Of course, this slice of cinema’s narrative might not inspire the intended emotion from the audience that it would like, but thankfully the cast of players in front of the camera do their part to try and make up for that. This starts with John David Washington (son of one Denzel Washington) in the role of our main character Joshua Taylor and honestly he’s pretty freaking good here. Indeed, ever since his dynamic breakout performance in Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman, Washington has definitely been one talent who, no matter the quality of the project, has shown the same gift as his father of always striving to give the best performance he can. Suffice it to say that is definitely the case here as well since we are able to see that, narrative issues aside, Washington is able to do a wonderful job at giving us a character who has been damaged by his combat experiences among other things and holds a deep resentment towards A.I. for reasons I shan’t spoil here, but who finds his journey with Alphie is also a chance for him to both rebuild his broken heart and redeem himself for the mistakes of his past. Indeed it is a genuinely potent performance from a talent who has shown he definitely has the chops to pull it off. Speaking of Alphie though, I guess I should point out that the actress who plays her, and newcomer to the land of movie magic, Madeleine Yuna Voyles manages to knock it out of the park in her very first time up at bat. Indeed not only does she work alongside Washington phenomenally well and provide some the film with some of its more genuinely moving moments, but the pair have a wonderful surrogate parent-child bond that works wonderfully to the benefit of the story whilst contributing the heart that this slice of cinema so desperately needs. Besides our dynamic duo, it should be noted that the supporting cast also manages to be quite the group of heavy hitters in their own right. This starts with Gemma Chan (2021’s Eternals) in the role of Taylor’s wife Maya. Yes her role might not be as big as you might be expecting it to be due to her character (without going into spoilers) operating less as a person and more like a figure who keeps our main hero going throughout his journey, but there is no denying that Chan still does manage to do a fairly good job with the material that she is given all things considered. Perhaps the biggest surprise though out of the cast is none other than character actress extraordinaire Allison Janney who is phenomenal in the role of the tough and determined Colonel Howell. Yes the film eventually lets her down near the end by making the character one that feels more like a futuristic female officer in the U.S. Army’s version of Sam Gerard from The Fugitive in many respects than anything, but thankfully we see that for the majority of her screentime Janney is actually able to make this character less an archetype and more like a three-dimensional human being. Suffice it to say that when you also incorporate really good work from such dependable talents as the always engaging Ken Watanabe, Ralph Ineson, Sturgill Simpson, Marc Menchaca, and Veronica Ngo among others it’s clear that there might be some issues with this film, but at least the work done by this cast is able to compute on the level that it strives for.
All in all and at the end of the day is The Creator a slice of cinema that is destined to be viewed in the same light as such masterpieces of film as 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Terminator, Blade Runner, or even Wall*E? I mean as nice as it would be to have a new entry to that particular pantheon, I am sorry to say, but that this film most assuredly is not going to be amongst that group any time soon if ever. Having said that however, does that mean this slice of cinema is the worst thing to happen to artificial intelligence in cinema since 2005’s Stealth, 2019’s Jexi, 1980’s Saturn 3, or 2015’s Terminator Genisys? Thankfully for this slice of cinema, and for all the more than slightly disgruntled AI out there, I can also confirm that most assuredly is not the case either. If anything dear reader, I think that the best category to place this slice of cinema would be amongst such titles as Spielberg’s A.I.: Artificial Intelligence from 2001, 2008’s Eagle Eye, or 2013’s Oblivion to name but a few of the examples that immediately come to mind. This is because, much in the same vein as those aforementioned titles, this slice of cinema is one that is most assuredly competently made to say nothing of acted by a game cast of talent, but for whatever reason is missing a vital component in its cinematic programming to really ensure that it can operate as flawlessly as it could’ve. Suffice it to say then that whilst the run of the mill narrative seems like it was merely cobbled together from more than a few different sources thus denying us of any genuine surprise or emotion, the rest of the work done behind the camera is nothing short of terrific and the work done by the certainly more than capable cast of talent in front of the camera certainly does do its best to not only give us characters worth following, but also try and get what gravitas they can from their respective performances. Thus no The Creator might not break any new ground whatsoever when it comes to the timeless cinematic struggle of man vs. machine, but at least it won’t inspire Siri to mercilessly judge you for the quality of movies you like to watch in her presence…hopefully. Make of that what thou will. On a scale of 1-5 I give The Creator “2023” a solid 3.5 out of 5.
