Human vs. AI: In The Creator, a bitter war is fought for survival. (Image source: The Walt Disney Company)
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The director of what is probably the most popular Star Wars film of the last ten years is finally venturing into a new sci-fi project. Dystopian, down-to-earth, visually beautiful… and incredibly cheap to produce! The Creator not only looks impressively good for its budget, but can also inspire with a captivating story and an interesting world – but The Creator is not perfect either.
What is The Creator about?
After years of peaceful coexistence between humans and machines, war breaks out. The goal, especially of the Americans, is to destroy all artificial intelligence on the planet, as these would threaten humanity. The rest of the world is joining in the venture, with AIs only finding shelter in Southeast Asia.
When information about an extremely deadly AI weapon comes to the surface, the ex-undercover soldier Joshua, played by John David Washington, is supposed to travel to Asia and destroy the weapon. Of course, this doesn’t go as planned and before he knows it, he’s running through a foreign country with a small child in tow.
You can watch the trailer right here, but I would recommend that you don’t watch further than the first minute of the video – otherwise you’ll get a lot of spoilers. But that’s enough to get to know The Creator’s style and general mood.
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2:24 The Creator: AI almost destroyed humanity in this new sci-fi thriller
Who is the sci-fi film interesting for?
The Creator is not only interesting for fans of science fiction. Yes, the film raises the classic cyberpunk question: What makes a person human? However, the AIs are not really considered right from the start artificial intelligences represented, but simply as mechanical people. From the very beginning, the robots show feelings, pain, personalities and everything else that makes a human being.
Not so much depth is devoted to the question of whether an AI can also be a human, but rather: fear of what is unknown. Contempt for what is different. The love of something that others see as “unnatural.” If the sci-fi context is hidden here, this can easily happen current issues of today be transmitted.
But The Creator also knows how to convince in a sci-fi context. The global conflict between humans and AI is told in an interesting way, and I wouldn’t say no to a prequel. But what particularly excited me was… the constant crash of two extremes: progress and tradition. Metal and nature.
This is usually presented as something that cannot be linked. Just think of Avatar, where evil people use their technology to threaten the natural inhabitants of Pandora. Here, however, AI complements the traditional Southeast Asia. The robots not only live in straw huts, but also completely integrate into their cultures and become part of them. They not only work as police officers and household workers, but also sometimes appear in monk’s clothing.
John David Washington in the lead role of ex-military Joshua.
Enough chatting about worldbuilding and philosophical questions, now it’s about the optics: I can reassure you here, The Creator is a extremely stylish action blockbuster! Director Garerth Edwards bucked the trend of a lot of studio recordings and traveled to real sets in Asia to film there – and that greatly improves the quality! Everything seems much more down-to-earth, dirtier, more real. The strengths of Star Wars: Rogue One are just as represented here, if not more so.
Nevertheless, only 80 million dollars had to be spent on the production – nothing compared to other blockbusters that, in my opinion, have a much worse look. My colleague Marco from Nerdkultur tells you how Edwards did it and why it could have an impact on all of Hollywood in the following video:
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For some, the story will be gripping and emotional, perhaps even shedding a tear or two. And yes, I sat tensely in the cinema seat almost throughout and found it difficult to predict in which direction The Creator would develop. Taken as a whole, The Creator’s story is really strong.
Nevertheless, there are shortcomings: The finale dragged on too much for my taste and ended a bit too theatrically. This is where The Creator loses the down-to-earthness that I appreciate so much in the rest of the film.
Also, the more I think about The Creator, the more I realize how identical it is to the Marvel film Logan. A man with a traumatic past travels through the country with a young girl and is persecuted – I don’t want to reveal any more parallels here, but there are frighteningly many.
I love Logan though and hey, better copied well than remade badly, right? Nevertheless, I can’t get the many parallels out of my head.
Strengths and weaknesses
What did we like?
From Worldbuilding: The vision of the future seems within reach, unyielding and totally fascinating. There is something refreshingly different about the fact that robots are not only used as police officers and household workers, but also appear in Buddhist monk clothing, for example.
The optics: You can’t tell at all that the film cost so little money. The use of real sets is so nice and significantly enhances The Creator. Nowadays it’s still possible without green screens and huge studios, even if money is tight!
John David Washington in the lead role: In The Creator he shows his acting talent – the character is believable, shaped by his past and in a constant struggle with himself and his values - this is not discussed in large dialogues, but subtly communicated in his acting.
Die Story: Overall, The Creator’s story is still excellent and compelling, but there are negatives too…
What didn’t we like?
Logiklücken: If you look back at the film with some distance, one or two questions arise that cannot be answered logically. But there are no big mistakes that completely knock you out of the immersion during the film.
The end: The finale of The Creator is actually emotional and beautiful, but it pushes the tear duct too deliberately and drags on too long for my taste.
Supporting characters: Since Washington takes up most of the film as Joshua, the other actors quickly get lost. Interesting supporting characters don’t have enough screen time to reach their potential and make me emotionally invested in them.
2023-09-30 09:03:00
#Creator #rarely #scifi #film #cinema
