And that's another usual dispute between two opposing sides

★★ out of ★★★★

The Creator (2023)

Runtime: 133 minutes

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for violence, some bloody images and strong language.

Note: Criticisms regarding the film also includes discussions about the plot. You have been warned.

Numerous things go boom and various cars flip over and crash in director Gareth Edwards’ The Creator, an ambitious science fiction piece that echoes the likes of Star Wars, The Matrix and Blade Runner. Unfortunately, despite gorgeous set pieces and impressive performances, the script from Edwards and Chris Weitz ultimately falls short compared to its technical achievements, reducing potentially great ideas into a generic battle between human versus AI, without giving us much introspect into why a war is necessary or why artificial intelligence is so important in our lives, especially the emotional components (besides, obviously, completing our tasks efficiently), instead boiling it down to a simple misunderstanding between two parties.

We'll get into that, and many major plot holes that contradict the entire situation after a sum-up of the story. In a world where technology is continuously advancing, from ChatGPT to actual human robots, The Creator foresees a future where AI has spiraled out of control, and has developed an intelligence matching or superior to the human population. A major event in the film would be a catastrophic nuclear detonation in Los Angeles in 2055, killing at least a million people in an instant.

This causes countries from the West to wage a war against New Asia, which comprises of most South-East Asia countries, and countries like Japan, Taiwan, Nepal, and some of India, that embrace AI. Their mission is to locate and assassinate an unknown target "Nirmata", an architect who is behind these attacks.

U.S. Army sergeant Joshua Taylor (John David Washington), goes undercover and is with his pregnant wife Maya (Gemma Chan), who's believed to be the daughter of the wanted fugitive Nirmata. Soon, the military attacks his home and the surrounding area, exposing his identity and breaking Maya's trust with him. She subsequently leaves via a boat, but is hit by a NOMAD (North American Orbital Mobile Aerospace Defense) missile.

We cut to five years later, where Taylor, whom we can see is missing an arm and a leg, due to the 2055 nuclear detonation, is working as a cleanup crew, where is approached with General Andrews (Ralph Ineson) and Colonel Howell (Allison Janney). They inform him that a new weapon, named "Alpha O" (Madeleine Yuna Voyles), has been engineered by Nirmata that can destroy NOMAD and end the war with AI emerging victorious. After being given motivation that Maya is still alive, Taylor agrees to the mission, and eventually discovers that the weapon is in the form of a young child.

While there are so many great ideas that the film could have utilised, in the first half-an-hour we're already smacked with a rather generic capture mission, which feels extremely hollow in the sense that there never is a compelling force to suggest why the team must start shooting New Asians like they're playing a shooter game. Frustratingly, the use of Evergood by Berl Olswanger feels like a poorly picked choice, as it doesn't match a tense moment before the team leaves their helicopter.

When the picture finally settles down and we get to hear from both sides, the idea of the nuclear detonation being NOMAD's own programming error feels like a disappointing excuse, which shifts our side to AI, but a contradiction also arises from Colonel Howell's dialogue, who mentions that her son's death resulted from AI. One could argue that Howell's dialogue may be a red herring, but opening sequences clearly showing AI attacking humans also raises a certain confusion for us to decide which side we should ultimately favour.

Another observation that drew my attention is the language of New Asia. Throughout the film, you may hear snippets of South East Asian languages, Japanese writings on billboards, and some usage of Chinese in the chapter titles. Are they considered sub-languages in a general language as a part of their culture, or could they be called dialects? That's a section that is rather murky in the world-building element in The Creator.

Still, I'll admit that I was rather impressed by the technicality and scale of the big set pieces, as they do suggest an interesting and original film about a meaningful war between us and AI, and I admired the detailed construction of settings across New Asia. In particular, Edwards' suggestion that a futuristic South East Asia contains rather slum-like infrastructure with robots assimilating into the human community feels like the perfect choice, waiting for a more analytical and thoughtful film. 

However, one of The Creator's big stumbling blocks is that it juggles so many concepts and subplots in 133 minutes and rushes through them, that most of the ideas feel raised rather than explored, and it also becomes difficult to engage with the emotional components of the film. There is rarely a singular focus where we can immerse ourselves into our protagonist's situation and feelings, as we have to meet a new set of people every chapter. Despite the moments of chemistry between Washington and Voyles, some well-timed humour and the commendable efforts of the cast, The Creator is unable to evoke an emotion even during the most important scenes.

For the entire population of the world to be at stake should be tense and heart-pounding. To see that Joshua has to inevitably face his fate and reunite with Maya moments before death should be heart-wrenching. To observe that the war is finally over should be immensely satisfying. Alas, The Creator sadly falls short of all these objectives.