We loved Gareth Edwards’ The Creator. (You can listen to just how much in our spoiler-free review of the movie here.) All of us geeks here at Goggler were thrilled at being able to see an original sci-fi action adventure on the big screen. (God knows it’s been far too long since we had!) And not just for the spaceships, and the robots, and the bings, and bangs, and booms, but because we were getting the chance to explore a brand new vision of the future.
A Brave New World
Throughout his filmmaking career, Gareth Edwards has always given us some incredibly fascinating worlds to discover – from the gritty, kaiju infested indie world of Monsters, to the upscale, blockbusting imagery of Godzilla, to the beautiful new vistas that he imagined for our favourite far (far) away galaxy in Rogue One. His movies, besides being visually arresting, are also completely immersive. His are worlds that feel real and lived in. The kind you want to revisit and rediscover. They aren’t just creations that you can feel, but ones that give you permission to feel.
If there are two things that Edwards excels at, they are world building and orchestrating chaos. All of his movies have delivered some vision of apocalypse, either by way of giant rampaging creatures, Death Stars, and now, rogue A.I.s.
In The Creator, he shows us a potentially portentous future, where humanity is divided over the impact of A.I. – specifically, intelligent humanoid robots – where every frame is saturated with interesting ideas, clever speculations, and a sense of the future that is more than just plausible.
California Dreamin’
The Creator is set in the year 2070, after AI has allegedly triggered a nuclear bomb and decimated the city of Los Angeles. The United States of America, along with its allies, respond by wholly banning AI, while the nations of “New Asia” continue to develop the technology to the point where humans and robots are seen as equals.
In the movie, Gareth Edwards doesn’t show us the explosion that destroys the city, choosing instead to keep it as a backdrop. There is no extended sequence à la Terminator 2: Judgement Day that revels in the destruction of Los Angeles. Here there is just John David Washington’s Joshua, working a dead end job, recycling A.I. at Ground Zero where the bomb went off.
It is an incredibly clever decision and one that makes his vision of a future America far more impactful. God knows we’ve seen so many end-of-the-world movies that we’ve become numb to the imagery of things blowing up. By showing us the world after the explosion, by giving us some insight into how life goes on, Edwards undercuts the terrible thing that happened by simply having humanity move on. It’s a frightening prospect, but one that accurately represents how we deal with trauma.
This backdrop is also interesting because it depicts a future world that utilizes technology in an incredibly analogue way. Because of the fear that America has towards A.I., all of their technology still requires a human touch. Which makes it an interesting contrast to the automated future that we have already seen in so many movies.
It’s a Sci-Fi Apocalypse Now
Which brings us to “New Asia.” Which is quite possibly the most exciting aspect of The Creator. Not just because most of the movie was shot in our part of the world – the production traveled more than 10,000 miles to 80 different locations across Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam – but rather in how Edwards chose to give it life.
By choosing not to use green screen, or motion capture suits, Edwards and his team of filmmakers shot the actual journey that these characters go on throughout the film. This trip across literal landscapes, that incorporates nature and the elements, that homages anime and manga, and reeks of colonial unease, feels completely relatable.
His merging of tradition and technology, while borrowing elements from iconic movies like Akira, is very much engineered with a visual language of its own. His version of a “New” Asian future is built around George Lucas’ principle of changing only 25% of what you see and letting the rest stay as it is.
This resulted in some beautifully compelling images. Massive futuristic structures rising out of paddy fields. A robot on a moped carrying bananas. A.I. Buddhist monks. Modernist sci-fi-ed temples. Futuristic junks. It was stunning.
It made us want to delve deeper into that world. It had us asking questions and craving more stories. Where was that robot with the bananas going? How did an A.I. decide to accept the teachings of the Buddha? These were questions that lingered in our minds and hearts long after we were done with Joshua and Alphie’s story.
A Visual Odyssey
What made Gareth Edwards’ The Creator so unique is that it didn’t feel like he was chasing some unattainable CGI fantasy. By keeping it grounded in a plausible reality, by taking a page from his Star Wars playbook and marrying ancient traditions with a technological future, he’s delivered a world that feels insanely rich and profoundly cinematic.
So go out and discover The Creator. By the end of it, we’re pretty sure that you’ll be so engrossed by what’s on screen that you’ll want to stay there a little while longer.
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