The Creator

I've said it before and I'll say it again, why are the apocalyptic films so grim? I realize that something that is apocalyptic isn't going to be a bed of roses, however, they can be expressly depressing. As with, "The Creator", which is set in the 2060's to the 2070's, it's about the very survival of mankind--aren't they all. 

This is an epic sci-fi action thriller set amidst a future war between the human race and the forces of AL (Artificial Intelligence). Sgt. Joshua Taylor (John David Washington), a hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife, Maya (Gemma Chan), is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war...and mankind itself. Joshua and his team, including Drew (Sturgill Simpson), Shipley (Robbie Tann), Daniels (Ian Verdun), McBride (Marc Menchaca) and others, of elite operatives journey across enemy lines, into the dark heart of AI occupied territory...only to discover the world-ending weapon he's been instructed to destroy is an AI in the form of a young child, Alphie (Madeleine Yuna Voyles). 

Others to round out the cast are Allison Janney as Colonel Howell, Ken Watanabe as Harun, Ralph Ineson as General Andrews, Amar Chadha-Patel as Omni, Michael Esper as Captain Cotton, Veronica Ngo as Kami and Daniel Ray Rodriguez as Hardwick. 

This was directed as though a bomb was ticking feverishly by Gareth Edwards ("End Day" (TV movie) '05, "Monsters" '10, "Godzilla" '14, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" '16) plus TV and a short. Obviously, this filmmaker is right in his comfort zone with this--look at his resume. He certainly knows his way around, not only with large film productions, but his ability to extract the emotions from his actors to bring his audience to the edge of their seats is amazingly effective. It was cleverly written by Gareth Edwards ("End Day" (TV movie) '05, "Monsters" '10) plus a short and Chris Weitz ("Antz" '98, "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps"2000, "About a Boy" '02, "The Golden Compass" '07, "Cinderella" '15, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" '16, "The Mountain Between Us" '17, "Pinocchio" '22) Plus TV, based on a story by Gareth Edwards. Interesting that Edwards received top billing between the writers with much less experience. But, considering that this film was Edwards 'baby', Weitz must have given him that billing slot even though Weitz clearly has the lion's share of the experience here. Actually, other than a section where two of the pivotal characters are killed in a bomb-related incident and seemingly survived it, and there were a couple of choppy areas of script, this was an interesting concept. The one film I could loosely compare it to would be that of "The Terminator" '84--what with the machines and mankind killing one another. Gareth Edwards decided to take a different approach with the visuals and talked a virtual reality studio into letting him film without green screen,and filming on-location, using smaller cameras, using  guerrilla-filming techniques, employing ILM (Industrial, Light & Magic) and then adding in the sci-fi elements later.  This not only made the visuals more realistic, but also more effective. 

If you like sci-fi films where the premise is definitely fighting the clock--you can almost hear the ticking, then this is the film for you. Washington's performance as Joshua is his usual very effective, but since he's the son of Denzel, it's no wonder. If you like that up, close and personal feeling, this is in an IMAX format as well.

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                 Rated: PG-13                                          134mins.