Growing up, the idea of robots in the future was either cool or scary. There were films and TV shows all about it. Who didn’t want “Rosie the Robot” to help with chores around the house? As a Star Wars fanatic, I am all about the droids. The Iron Giant causes grown men to cry, which is no big deal, as we saw in Ted Lasso. And let’s not forget Wall-E, Eve, and Baymax, who are here to protect human life — aside from being adorable. But film and TV tend to push us off the path of loving robots when they start to look and act a little too human, as is evident in The Creator.
The concept of AI is everywhere. What used to be science fiction is quickly turning into nonfiction. We went from static-looking holograms in Star Wars to a whole 3D hologram of Tupac performing with Snoop Dogg at Coachella in 2012. Science fiction may be based loosely on scientific truth, but it is still fiction. Right? 20th Century’s film The Creator plays with this idea by taking what we are talking about now in the entertainment industry and bringing it forward tenfold. The Creator takes our understanding of the history of robots and brings us to a new divide that mocks Western culture’s approach to advanced technology, all against the backdrop of gorgeous landscapes and emotional performances.
The Creator, co-written and directed by Gareth Edwards (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), brings us to a future where the war between humans and AI is at its peak. Ex-Special Forces agent Joshua (John David Washington) is recruited to track down and eliminate the Creator, the designer of advanced AI. A weapon has been made that can turn the tide in favor of AI and bring an end to humankind in the form of a child robot (Madeleine Yuna Voyles). Joshua and a team of elite operatives must find the weapon before it’s too late. Also featured in the film are Gemma Chan (Eternals), Allison Janney (The Help), Ken Watanabe (Inception), Amar Chadha-Patel (The Wheel of Time), and Marc Menchaca (Ozark).
The cast is wildly talented, but the standout in The Creator is Voyles. Her depiction of an AI child was phenomenal — every look she gave and every line she delivered were spot on. You couldn’t help but adore her character. In the middle of a war film, there was a genuine connection, it seemed, between Voyles and Washington. Using the scene in the trailer as a reference: The line “We are the same; we can’t go to heaven because you’re not good and I’m not a person” is delivered flawlessly. In her first major acting role, Voyles showcases her natural talent. Give that baby an Oscar. She made this film what it is.
Having a Black man as the lead in a sci-fi film is so nice. He’s not supernatural or a superhero; he’s just a military man in love. It’s rare. Washington’s charismatic persona did him good in the one-on-one scenes with Chan and Voyles. His action intro, unfortunately, did not start on the best foot. I blame the dialogue. It was rudimentary and clumsy. The scenes weren’t convincing at the beginning. But as the story sped up, Washington showed his ability to navigate and lead this sci-fi film.
Given that they are by the same director, the issue I have with The Creator is the same one I had with Rogue One. We see a tiny blip of a bigger world, but we aren’t given the chance to connect with the characters. The film is set in wartime. The only person I truly connected with was the child. I didn’t care enough about the other characters to root for someone or care enough if they lived or died. It’s the assumption of good versus evil here, but it’s hard to have that view without all the facts.
The visual effects are fantastic. Those beautiful long shots by DP’s Greig Fraser and Oren Soffer are the cherry on top. The production design is top-tier. This film is worthy of awards in VFX and cinematography. That’s the thing about sci-fi films: Sometimes, there is so much effort put into the creation, look, and feel of a dystopian, futuristic world that other, equally important things like script and pacing are pushed to the back — style over substance. The pacing was rocky in the first half of the film. At one point, there were literal thoughts of boredom. Luckily, the film’s second half picks up, and Voyles keeps your attention.
The Creator comes off as very pro-AI and very anti-war. Many of our favorite sci-fi films with storylines of AI versus humans come down to love as a human trait. The idea is that AI can’t truly feel because it’s not real; it’s programming. Films like Blade Runner: 2049 suggest that “dying for the right cause is the most human thing we can do.” The Creator takes these ideas and runs with them. It is fascinating because Edwards has allowed humans and AI the opportunity to do both in this film. Some are against AI, while others embrace it within their society. There are ethical, existential, and social themes that human and AI characters portray. Where things become formulaic is in the notion that AI characters are more sympathetic than human characters, except for that one outlier, usually the main characters.
There are many films and shows these days that attempt to give us the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to AI. Westworld and Black Mirror are some favorites. Humanoids are popular because they make allusions to “real” people, but it comes down to the technology itself — the ability of AI to think, write, and create on its own. There’s no doubt The Creator will be a talking piece, given the nature of the film and the climate we currently find ourselves in.
The Creator lands in theaters on September 29, 2023.
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