Movie Review: The Creator (2023)

[Dave Gray]

The Creator (2023)

Premise: In a war with Artificial Intelligence, an ex-special forces agent is tasked with returning to enemy lines, in an attempt to find and destroy the AI's new secret weapon that will change the course of the war.

Rating: Great, but also plays to my specific tastes.

I really liked this movie a whole lot.  The tone is that of Blade Runner or District 9.  There aren't a lot of jokes and the tone is serious, it's adult, it's bleak at times.

The special effects are superb.  Not only do they look great, but it's just the kind of effects I like.  They don't draw attention to themselves.  The camera never acts in a way that it wouldn't if you weren't filming actual robots.  The camera doesn't zoom in or do anything unnatural.  You aren't staring at the special effects for long periods of time, being dared to figure it out.

The acting, particularly of children, is also very good.  The casting is inspired and there are known actors cast against type in ways that are very effective.

When you're dealing with sci-fi or future settings, I like when there are lots of ideas or cool things to look at that are different or otherworldly, but aren't necessarily the plot of the movie.  This film has a lot of that.  I was constantly looking at things and thinking "oh, that's something cool I've not seen before" or at least not in the way depicted.

Also, good Sci-Fi is a reflection on the human condition.  Like District 9 mirrored Apartheid camps in South Africa, The Creator feels like it borrows a lot from Vietnam.  I saw similarities not only in the setting, but in the way that relationships formed between soldiers and locals, and also politically between nations.

The story is good, though often you can see some things coming.  There was a point here or there that may have yada-yadad an important piece of information.  I noticed one part, specifically, that seemed to condense a discovery scene for the sake of time and pacing.

Perhaps my favorite thing about this movie, though, is that there aren't really bad guys.  There is a conflict and a war and two sides fighting for what they believe is right, but you understand everyone's position, everyone's fears, and why people act like they do.  It's a film without a villain, per se, and I always connect with that.

The film lacks the one big "ah ha" or twist or message or disturbing conflict or learned truth that elevates a movie into the all-time best films, but for what it has, it's 90% of the way there.

This will end up one of my favorite movies of the year.

[Sunstroke]

I plan on seeing it this weekend...can't wait.

[Downunder Dolphan]

Also, good Sci-Fi is a reflection on the human condition.  Like District 9 mirrored Apartheid camps in South Africa

District 9 also mirrors something a lot more recent than Apartheid camps in South Africa - it was a nod to the plight of refugees fleeing war zones to other countries, and being locked up in conditions that are in some cases even worse than prisons. Governments actively dehumanize them to justify the shocking mistreatment - all for the sake of saving a dollar, and as a deterrent to others (so they hopefully go somewhere else). It's still happening now.

War is bad enough, but this is also an absolute shit-stain on humanity.

[bsmooth]

I am hoping to catch it this weekend.