By José María Gámez-Lamadrid, Guest Writer

The Creator signals the  return to the silver screen of Director Gareth Edwards, of Godzilla (2014) and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) fame. Edwards’ new blockbuster sci-fi epic centers on the classic “humanity vs AI” conflict.

Production design is a vital component for bringing a director’s vision to life. Pair it with a great script, and production design can elevate the plot with a beautiful style to match the substance, a la Avatar: The Way of Water. One misstep though, and you end up with something more like the Star Wars prequels or Ready Player One, where the production design makes up for the incoherent script and masks its flaws.

The Creator tries to stand alongside the former but falls more towards the latter.

The film explains that after the creation of “simulants” — Edwards’ version of AI that resembles humans — Earth has erupted into nuclear warfare between the US and New Asia, which is a safe haven for simulants who wish to live in peace. 

The movie centers on former U.S. sergeant Joshua (John David Washington), who has retired after an undercover mission gone wrong took the lives of his wife Maya (Gemma Chan) and their unborn child. However, things take a turn after Colonel Howell (Allison Janney) arrives on his doorstep with a mission to destroy a secret New Asian superweapon and a revelation: Maya is alive. This weapon is neither a missile nor a bomb though, but a simulant child (Madeleine Yuna Voyles) with unique abilities and knowledge of Maya’s location. Torn between obeying orders and finding Maya, Joshua goes rogue, christening the child “Alphie” as the two venture deeper into enemy territory to find his long-lost wife.

The Creator could be considered a “concept art film” with stunning visuals beautifully translated onto screen. The film oozes style and wears its Akira, Ghost in the Shell and Neon Genesis Evangelion inspirations proudly on its sleeve. Setting the main bulk of the plot in the rainforests of New Asia to present a coexistence between machine and nature feels fresh compared to other sci-fi movies about AI. It’s delicious eye candy, expertly concocted by the magicians at Industrial Light & Magic. 

I just wish that the script was given the same level of care.

If you’ve seen The Terminator or The Matrix, you’ve seen this movie before. If you’ve watched any number of the “Wolf and Cub”-inspired media such as The Mandalorian, The Last of Us and Thor: Love and Thunder that have dominated Hollywood for the past few years, then you’ve seen this movie before. 

It’s enjoyable, but offers nothing new. The most frustrating part is that there’s shreds of originality that are never fully fleshed out. In the way that the movie opens, the plot seems as if it might take the road never traveled — a protagonist that supports the machines and fights for their freedom, only to pull the rug  out from under and reveal that Joshua is on an undercover mission. There are glimpses of Bush-era political characterization of the U.S., the army takes a war on terror “if you’re not with us, then you’re against us” approach regarding countries that support simulants, but it’s never mentioned again past the introduction.

That’s not to say that the script doesn’t have its moments. 

The movie’s all-star cast delivers with their performances. Voyles has a great debut role as Alphie, and Janney plays a compelling antagonist against Washington. There’s moments of levity and humor, and a great gag regarding walking bomb-robots that stomp into the battlefield. 

Credit must be given where it’s due, but the script is so undercooked that it’s hard not to imagine what could’ve been if Edwards wasn’t the creator of The Creator.