THE CREATOR

US, 2023, 133 minutes, Colour.

John David Washington, Madeleine Yuna Vouyles, Gemma Chan, Alison Janney, Ken Watanabe, Sturgeon Sampson, Amar Chadha Patel, Ralph Ineson.

Directed by Gareth Edwards.

The Creator is a vast, visually impressive drama of the future, the development of AI, sophisticated robotics, robots with personality and parallel human functions, harmony with the humans – or hostility. It is the creative work of writer-director, Gareth Edwards (Monsters,). In many ways it is visionary.

Overall, the audience is overwhelmed by being immersed in this future, 2067-2070, extraordinary locations, the vastness of Los Angeles destroyed by hostile AI forces, millions destroyed, Americans determined to wipe out AI. However, robotics is flourishing in what is called New Asia, humans living in harmony with the AI. Much of the filming was done in Thailand, in the rice fields, wonderful visual overviews, the crags emerging from the coastal waters, supplementary filming in Korea, Cambodia, and for spectacular mountain sequences, Nepal. There is a vastness about these landscapes.

But with the screenplay, there is a challenge to the audiences, the need for serious attention to determine who is who, who is on whose side, who are the enemies, who are the destructive forces, the American military? The AI weaponry? Some may find this challenge too much.

But, in this future, the robots can be distinguished with a literal hole in the head. The robots otherwise look human, act in a very human way. But, at the core of the film is the mysterious Creator with a mystique from Nepal. However, American intelligence indicates that the AI enemies have a mysterious weapon capable of complete destruction.

Also at the centre, is a human story, a focus on Joshua, John David Washington, undercover American agent in New Asia, married to a local wife, she pregnant. And then an American invasion, Joshua’s cover blown, his wife disappearing, his returning to LA and working for the government. Five years later he is approached to return to new Asia to find the mysterious weapon and to kill the mastermind creating AI.

In fact, the weapon is a mysterious child (mother Madeleine Yuna Voyles), hole in the head, very human (delighting in television cartoons), but with complete powers of control. All the rest of the screenplay is somewhat overwhelming in the confrontation between American forces, led by quite a fierce colonel, played by Alison Janney, backed by sinister authorities in Washington, but it is also very personal, Joshua and Alphie, as he calls her, escaping together, pursued, taken aboard an immense, really vast, airborne machine of surveillance, pursuit, heroics, sacrifice.

Enthusiasts for dramas about the human future, about the role of AI, will enjoy it is sometimes overwhelming drama. Audiences who prefer to focus on the present might find it too much.

1. The title? A world of AI? The Nepalese word and title?
2. Audience interest in AI, robotics, the past, the future? Human collaboration? Human hostility?
3. 2067, 2070? The US, AI and human dependence, the devastation in Los Angeles? The promotion of AI in New Asia? The US wanting to destroy AI? Surviving in New Asia?
4. The visuals of the future world, the wreckage of Los Angeles, the villages of New Asia (filming in Thailand, the rice fields, the coasts and crags, Cambodia, Korea, the mountains of Nepal)?
5. The technology, the robotics, human form, human functions, expressions of emotions, relationships? Weapons? The child as a weapon? And the huge airborne surveillance?
6. The screenplay, elaborating the situation, challenged to audiences as to who is who, who is on whose side, who are the humans, who are the robots? The nature of the confrontations and battles?
7. Joshua, the American government, undercover, his relationship with Maya, her pregnancy? Hopes? The invasion, blowing his cover, Maya and the confrontation, her disappearance?
8. Joshua in LA, the authorities, coming to him, drawing on his undercover experience in New Asia, his being sent in to find the AI weapon?
9. Joshua, his personality, regrets about his wife, her disappearance, the pregnancy, five years passing? The discovery of the weapon, the Creation? His searching for her, finding her, bonding, her name, the shared experiences, the risks? The protection? In New Asia, the American invasion, Col Howell and her hostility? The other Americans?
10. The people of new Asia, the robots in harmony with the humans, working the fields, protection? Support of Joshua? The religious backgrounds?
11. Colonel Howell, her personality, determination, her subordinates? Her tactics? Relationship with the authorities in Washington?
12. Joshua, calling the child Alphie, the attack, the pursuit, in the vehicles, the fights, the weaponry? The national surveillance overhead?
13. The Americans, the wounded, the appeal to Joshua? The implants, the recordings, Howell and her listening to the mind of the dead man, limited? The changes of appearances – and, in the AI world, the robots and their possibility of changing faces? Mayar’s face?
14. The buildup to the climax, aboard the floating surveillance, the chases, vastness, Joshua and his ingenuity, relying on Alfie and her powers, turning power on and off?
15. The finale, the explosions, the talk about heaven, for good persons, Joshua and his self-sacrifice?
16. Howelll, destruction, the floating surveillance?
17. The American attitudes, the Washington authority and commands, defeated? The people of New Asia continuing on in harmony?
18. The vision of the director, the future, technology, humanity?