FilmSnobReviews

Title: The Creator
MPA Rating: PG-13
Director: Gareth Edwards
Starring: John David Washington, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Gemma Chan
Runtime: 2 hr 13 mins

What It Is: In the near future an AI has killed millions in Los Angeles. This leads to a war between humankind and the AI. It is during this war that soldier Joshua (Washington) loses his wife and gains a bitterness he’s never experienced before. When he’s asked back to the battlefield by Colonel Howell (Allison Janney) he, and his fellow soldiers are tasked with finding the secret weapon that the AI feels will turn the tide.

What We Think: A science fiction mess. One filled to the brim with visually stunning shots that often lead nowhere. Gareth Edwards is a director that tries as he might to make these grandiose ideas and doesn’t quite get what he wants out of it. Still, this is a movie, as someone eloquently told me “it’s a film Neill Blomkamp wishes he’d made”. Quite frankly given the film we did get from Blomkamp recently gave us is quite a bit better than this one. It doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, ironcially. Edwards here though really wants to make a sci-fi film the likes of which we’ve never seen. His efforts aren’t totally in vein as I can say without doubt I’ve never seen a film like this and yet I certainly have. It’s the script here that lets the film down. It’s such a cliche riddled borefest.

Our Grade: C+, A damned beautiful looking science fiction tale. Sadly this is one that’s let down by the ambitions of the director and the shortcuts of that same man as a writer. John David Washington is too talented to be strapped to these boring overly long piece by these “auteurs”. Thats what was so great about BlacKkKlansman he’s just sort of…let loose. Either was this is streaming now and though a cool looking film I don’t think Edwards will surpass his work on Star Wars: Rogue One. This is certainly not going to be the one that does it. Check it out if you really want to, but don’t say I didn’t warn you this isn’t great.