The Creator

A rogue soldier escorts an advanced AI child in The Creator. The West has gone to war against advanced AI following the destination of an atomic bomb in Las Angeles. Joshua Taylor (John David Washington) worked as an undercover agent in New Asia, where ended up marrying Maya Fey-Taylor (Gemma Chan), who has a connection with Nirmata, the mysterious chief architect behind New Asia’s AI advancements. Maya supposedly dies in a strike by the USS NOMAD, a weaponized space station created by the West.

Five years later, Joshua is shown intel by General Andrews (Ralph Ineson) and Colonel Howell (Allison Janney) that Maya may still be alive. Joshua is assigned to be part of a strike team storming a New Asian lab to destroy a powerful AI weapon. The “weapon” turns out to be a child named Alphie (Madeleine Yuna Voyles), who joins Joshua on his search for Maya.

The Creator Synopsis

The Creator is a sci-fi action-drama co-written and directed by Gareth Edwards (Monsters, Godzilla, Rogue One). The film takes place in a future world where advanced AI was created to protect humanity. However, the AI is blamed for a nuclear strike in Los Angeles and the West declares all-out war to prevent humanity’s extinction. However, throughout his mission to destroy the AI “weapon” Alphie, Joshua learns that all they want is to live in harmony with humans. Joshua ends up reuniting with simulant soldier Harun (Ken Watanabe), who is reluctant to lead Joshua to Maya, out of fear that he will lead the Western forces right to her.

My Thoughts on The Creator

The Creator marks Gareth Edwards’ second original feature film concept, following his 2010 debut feature Monsters. The Creator ends up being the closest Edwards has gotten to replicating Monsters‘ mix of science fiction and drama as well as themes of misguided prejudice. Taking a page out of films like Blade Runner, it often seems like the AI simulants of The Creator are more human than the humans, who view them as little more than machines that can be just turned off.

The core of the story of The Creator is the growing bond between Joshua and the child simulant Alphie. At the start of the film, Joshua holds the same prejudices against AI as the rest of the West. However, in his determination to be reunited with Maya, Joshua begins to sympathize more with the simulants and their cause.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Allison Janney as Colonel Howell, who develops into the primary antagonist of the film. Howell shows absolutely no remorse towards simulants, based on her belief that they were responsible for the deaths of her children. Also playing an antagonistic role in the film is the quite unrecognizable Ralph Ineson (The Green Knight) as General Andrews, the leader of the West’s war against AI.

While the indie success of Monsters helped Gareth Edwards get put at the helm of big franchise films, The Creator shows that is quite capable as developing original concepts. Here’s hoping that he does more of this in the future.

Trailer for The Creator