A world where humans and robots with artificial intelligence co-exist makes for an interesting plot in The Creator. Directed by Gareth Edwards, best known for Rogue Ones a Star Wars Story, The Creator brings a fresh take in the Sci-Fi genre.

 

In the year 2055 artificial intelligence destroys Los Angeles with a nuclear bomb. Now, the U.S. government is trying to erase its creation from existence to keep the world safe. There plan is to send someone undercover to assassinate the person still creating AI in New Asia, Nirmata. Enter Sergeant Joshua Taylor (John David Washington) who goes undercover to find Nirmata by marrying his daughter Maya (Gemma Chan). Taylor’s cover is blown when the army shows up exposing him and ending his marriage by killing his wife. Years after the traumatic experience Colonel Howell (Allison Janney) asks for Taylor’s help to find a weapon that can take down the space station NOMAD (North American Orbital Mobile Aerospace Defense) because of its ability to execute fatal aerial strikes. Taylor decides to help when learning that his wife may possibly be alive after seeing video footage from the government. While breaching the facility to get the weapon, he learns that the threat is just a child. He later names her Alphie (Madeleine Yuna Voyles). Now, he must make the choice of taking out the threat or protecting the weapon and use it to find his wife. The only problem is that the whole U.S. government is coming after him.

 

We have gone through many years where originality has been hard to come by when it comes to movies. A lot of films are either superhero stories, reboots, or knock off films of other films. This film feeds off different ideas of other popular movies, but it still has its own identity which differentiates it from other Sci-Fi films. The story wasn’t anything new, but the world is what makes the story unique. I felt like the Colonel Howell character was unnecessary, but her character did represent the government doing whatever it takes to take this weapon. The relationship between Washington and Voyles was sensational and will pull at your heart strings until the very end. If that chemistry between those two didn’t work the film would suffer. The CGI in this film may be some of the best I have seen in a while. The robots felt so real especially with the design of New Asia. You really feel like this type of society could exist in the next 50 years or so. It was done so well.

 

The overall verdict is that we now have a new Sci-Fi film that is our modern 2001 Space Odyssey. I think Gareth Edwards has a unique take on this genre and I hope we see more movies like this moving forward. I highly recommend seeing this in theaters and buying this on Blu Ray or 4K.

 

Rating: 4 out 5