IP is king and it’s rare for any non-IP movie to become a box-office smash. Sure, 2023 saw the box-office juggernauts that were Barbie and The Super Mario Bros. Movie and while they are based on existing source material/video game, the stories centered around these two films were original creations in their own right. This year also saw the sensational success of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which isn’t an original movie necessarily but a biopic that makes nearly $1 billion is not something that’s ever happened. Suffice to say is that there is room for original movies to be successful but the counter to that is recognizable brands are still a more reliable selling point. More original films are being made and produced today than at any point in the history of Hollywood and while there are exceptions of successful original productions, the sample size doesn’t compare much to all the sequels, reboots and various adaptations we get.
In a world where most Hollywood tentpole productions range around $300 million, The Creator scales it all the way back to $80 million. It’s a bold decision and it’s even bolder to have a huge movie such as this to be led by John David Washington, a familiar face yes, but not a huge box-office draw. The other draw back is that no matter how original a film is it’s more than likely going to hinge off of other movies whether it’s narrative choices or certain themes. The key is to primarily give the movie its own flavor and DNA. The Creator is an incredibly dense, rich and visually astounding science fiction film that breathes originality and its own charm and special identity. It’s the best work at character development that director Gareth Edwards has to offer and underneath the scale of the movie is a powerful and complex narrative of bigger and philosophical questions about the role of AI, humanity’s purpose and our own beliefs in the ideas of creation.
When it comes to his strengths as a director, Gareth Edwards knows how to deliver dazzling visuals. Both Godzilla and Rogue One, on a visual level, are truly spectacular and offered terrific work of VFX. However, the now main criticism that Godzilla and Rogue One had were character problems, particularly with the lack of engagement or not as fully developed. Granted, the character work in The Creator is his best attempt at creating more fleshed out and expanded characters. While John David Washington is still an up and coming performer and has given stronger performances in BlackKklansman and perhaps Tenet, he does a solid enough job carrying this movie but his performance wouldn’t have been the same if it wasn’t for Madeleine Yuna Voyles. Their relationship really embodies the heart and soul of this movie and there’s a real nice sense of elegant emotion, which is something that’s been missing in Gareth Edwards previous films.
The one aspect of The Creator that cannot be ignored is how gorgeous it looks. Films like this prove that you can accomplish so much with very little. Even in the post-pandemic era, we’re still getting so many $250 million tentpoles that it’s really refreshing to have a movie like The Creator exist. It’s definitely one of the best looking films of the year that harken back films like Apocalypse Now, Platoon and Blade Runner, which were sources of inspiration of the making of this movie. It’s visuals are coupled tremendously with the sound design and Hans Zimmer methodical score.
The Creator is an attempt to ponder audiences on where society is at with the role of AI, humanity’s purpose and our own beliefs in the ideas of creation. A lot of is thematically reliant on the allegories of the Vietnam War and how the Western ideologies talk about it at length. It shows the brutality of war and the devastating effects the war has had between humans and AI. The narrative structure carries this wave of complexity and philosophical questions that leaves us with the idea of how can we adapt to new changes in our lives. A movie like The Creator would probably get the same reception that Blade Runner received when it first hit theaters. It was hated at first but overtime it was then viewed as a science fiction classic. 30 years from now, we will see how well The Creator will stand the test of time.
Zane's take at the Cinema's 