The Creator

The stage looks tantalisingly set for an era of peak sci-fi. We seem to have moved away from the ‘sci-fact’ splurge of movies which used ever-improving CGI to give us some awe-inspiring and ‘realistic’ films about space (Gravity, The Martian, Interstellar, Ad Astra, First Man et al) and on to more traditional science fiction fare.

With the sequel to Dune to come (hopefully this year still), Gareth Edwards’ covers the wait with The Creator, an original (and quite possibly standalone) film which is sure to sit alongside individual greats like Arrival, Minority Report and Ex Machina.

This is a gem and hopefully gets the blockbuster-level audiences it deserves (or else cult status awaits). A ‘lived-in’ future world depicts an ongoing war on AI and we’re thrown into a morally ambiguous position as we question whether anyone here is truly ‘good’ or ‘bad’.

It feels like an amalgamation of lots of other films with plentiful nods to sci-fi classics (Star Wars in its ‘lived in’ setting, Blade Runner, District 9 and Avatar) as well as Vietnam war films.

The plot is a little scattershot and, as nice as it is to think that this could just sit as a perfectly packaged one off without the requisite prequels and TV adjoiners, there is a feel that perhaps the film was cut down into a more ‘manageable’ piece. The opening fake newsreels and the enigmatic title cards really draw you into the world and you are left wanting to find out more than the film gives away.

It is also staggeringly beautiful, the design of everything here is unique and well thought through and it’s an absolute feast for the eyes. The soundtrack is strong as well and it’s all pretty comprehensible and zippy, despite a slight lack of substance to the ending once the not wildly surprising ‘twists’ arrive.

Overall though, any quibbles are small and The Creator is an immensely likeable, stunning, original and quality movie. Deserving of its invitation to the court of great science fiction.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️