3.0

Gareth Edwards makes his comeback to filmmaking with 2023’s The Creator, following his work on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story(2016) and Godzilla(2014).

The Creator follows the story of a US Army agent, Joshua Taylor as an undercover operative, tasked with finding an elusive chief architect, Nirmata, who is believed to be behind the advancement of Artificial Intelligence after an accidental detonation of a nuclear bomb in Los Angeles declared war on AI. John David Washington does a decent job in the lead role and is supported by the likes of Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, Allison Janney, and Madeleine Yuna Voyles who makes her professional feature film debut in this movie with a captivating, and often compelling performance.
The storytelling is often undermined by weak writing, and thin characters while also coming off as a rehash of other sci-fi films from the past with its themes. Still, Edwards anchors the film superbly with his stunning visuals and fine pacing. The film displays great production values, punctuated by bright and vivid colors, impressive set designs, and flawless VFX, as well as well-choreographed action sequences. Most of the filming was done on location for this film, while the VFX shots were added in after completing the movie to limit its budget to the $80m it cost, but The Creator looks more impressive than several of its counterparts with double its cost from previous years.

Ultimately, The Creator has astonishing visuals, but that’s where its charm ends. The performances are strong, but thrilling elements of the film swap actual excitement for a more traditional science fiction film that pays tribute to its influences without doing much else on its own.

RATING: 6.5/10