Against the backdrop of a war between humans and robots with artificial intelligence, a former soldier finds the secret weapon, a robot in the form of a young child.
Chuck says:
Gareth Edwards’ “The Creator” is being touted as a groundbreaking piece of science-fiction, the kind of genre entry that uses its tropes to make a profound social statement while being an exemplary example of the form. Ultimately, it reveals itself to be a big budget version of “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” a film that has the air of greatness about it before it exposes itself as a loud, empty piece of work. Far too long, Edwards intriguing visual aesthetic proves to be the only thing of note in this overwrought production.
The film gets off to a solid start, the fractured future of 2065 the setting. The focus is the timely issue of artificial intelligence. The nightmare scenario we fear has occurred as it’s reached a point of dominance, having launched a nuclear strike on Los Angeles some ten years earlier. The United States has vowed to wipe out any advanced AI they come across, diverting most of their forces towards New Asia, which has embraced this technology, developing it even further.
Their intelligence has found they’ve developed a bomb that will destroy their massive warship, the Nomad, and that it must be found before it can be used. They recruit Joshua (John David Washington) to help with this mission as five years earlier, he’d been sent to the area where they think it is held. The problem is, this physically and emotionally damaged soldier is bitter over the loss of his pregnant wife Maya (Gemma Chan) who was killed by the army. However, Colonel Howell (Allison Janney) shows him proof she is in fact still alive and may be able to help him find this bomb.
All of this plays out over the first half hour, and though its premise never truly escapes the shadow of James Cameron’s “The Terminator,” this is only the starting point from where Edwards seems to be taking us somewhere new. Giving credit where it is due, he does provide us with a neat little plot twist – Joshua receives quite a shock when he discovers this bomb has been rendered as a ten-year-old girl he dubs Alfie (Madeleine Yuna Voyles), who just happens to be fashioned after his unborn daughter.
The film turns into a road movie at this point, as the pair set out to see if Maya is still alive. All the while Howell is in hot pursuit so that she may disarm the bomb with extreme prejudice. This ends up seeming like a very long trip as there’s little to no chemistry between Washington and Voyles. It certainly isn’t from lack of trying on both of their parts, but they simply don’t mesh, their moments together are far too awkward and obvious to be effective.
The intent to foster a sense of emotional investment in their plight never comes. Edwards is far too enamored with executing one battle sequence after another, as the pursuit of Alfie becomes quite destructive and expensive. Whenever the pair come to rest on their journey, mayhem ensues with one large explosion after another, rending the landscape to the horizon. It’s repetitious, it fails to move the plot forward and it’s all so tedious, complaints I’ve had with far too many big-budget action films of late.
Perhaps the biggest problem with the film is that Joshua is not a sympathetic character. His intent to find his wife and protect his “child” is self-serving and puts the whole world at risk. We learn that Alfie will eventually be able to control anything, from everywhere, just the sort of nightmare A.I. experts worry will occur. Joshua understands the danger in this, yet he protects Alfie at all costs. Had there been an emotional connection between them or if Voyles was able convince me her character was more “real” than constructed, I may have understood Joshua’s intent. As it is, the only reason for his actions is because the plot dictates it, nothing more.
It’s hard to discern a theme amidst all the carnage. I suppose Edwards is saying that he attractive nature of the benefits of A.I. blind us to its hazards. If that’s the extent of what he has to say, it’s a rather simplistic, obvious conclusion to espouse with a hefty $80 million price tag. In the end, “The Creator” left me numb, longing for the days when big budget filmmakers went out of their way to wow and move me.
2 Stars
