Artificial intelligence has been a key focus of sci-fi cinema for decades. Well before AI became an increasingly prevalent part of our everyday lives, movie fans were treated to films like Blade Runner, The Terminator, Her, Ex Machina, The Matrix, and more. These types of stories have become all the more timely and relevant today, which is why AI continues to be such a fascinating topic for filmmakers to explore. A recent notable example is The Creator, Gareth Edwards’ 2023 offering that stars John David Washington as a special forces agent who finds himself in the middle of a war between humanity and AI. The film had a relatively soft box office performance, but now it’s doing well on streaming.
For the week of March 23rd – 29th, The Creator was the No. 9 movie on Netflix in the United States, beating out The Bad Guardian to secure its place on the chart. This was the first week The Creator placed in Netflix’s top 10.
The Creator Is an Ambitious Sci-Fi Film Worth Watching
Image Courtesy of 20th Century Studios
When The Creator premiered, it arguably made a muted impact. Earning a 67% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, the film grossed only $104.3 million worldwide against its $80 million production budget. It is worth mentioning that the film released in the midst of the 2023 Hollywood labor strikes, meaning the cast was unable to promote it. That might have had some effect on The Creator‘s box office performance; in its opening weekend, it placed third, behind Saw X and PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie. Sci-fan fans should not let the uneven reception dissuade them from adding The Creator to their watchlists, as it’s very much a film worth checking out.
With Gareth Edwards behind the camera, one of The Creator‘s biggest selling points, unsurprisingly, is its visuals. Edwards, who has a background in visual effects, has always been a master of portraying scale on screen and immersing viewers with intricate production design. The Creator is another great example of those sensibilities; the sci-fi world Edwards and his crew crafted feels practical and lived-in, and the Oscar-nominated special effects are truly stunning. It’s incredible that the film cost “only” $80 million to make because, in terms of the visuals, The Creator rivals the best of what Hollywood’s blockbusters have to offer. It’s proof that you don’t need to spend well over $200 million to produce something that deserves to be seen on the biggest of screens.
The narrative is where The Creator is a bit more mixed. On one hand, it’s admirable that Edwards set out to make an original sci-fi film that tackles heady topics and attempts to answer pressing questions about the current state of the world. It’s the kind of ambitious project that Hollywood needs more of, however, the general consensus is that The Creator fell short of realizing its full potential. While there’s a lot to appreciate over the course of its run time, some of its themes are short changed, meaning the film’s story isn’t wholly satisfying. If it dug a bit deeper in its exploration of AI and the role it plays in society, then The Creator might have been a new modern sci-fi classic and one of the best sci-fi films of the 2020s.
That unrealized potential might be frustrating when looking back at The Creator, but it’s still worth watching. After headlining Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, Washington is well within his wheelhouse starring in another bold sci-fi movie, delivering a strong performance as protagonist Joshua Taylor. The dynamic that unfolds between Joshua and “Alphie,” the young robotic AI simulant Joshua encounters on his mission, makes up a large part of The Creator‘s emotional core, and Washington and co-star Madeleine Yuna Voyles are able to get viewers invested in their paternal bond. Edwards also stages plenty of thrilling set pieces, ensuring there’s plenty of action to complement the food for thought that’s on display.
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