Gareth Edwards film is set in the near future when scientific advances in artificial intelligence enable robots to work alongside us. However, when they triggered a nuclear bomb in Los Angeles, humans declared war on the now outlawed AI. An army sergeant, Joshua (John David Washington), is sent undercover to find where the robots are still being built in ‘ New Asia’ and, whilst there, he falls for a local woman, Maya (Gemma Chan). Joshua sees Maya killed in a raid by US troops and leaves the forces. Five years later, he is persuaded to go back to resume his mission when he is supplied evidence that his wife is still alive.
The Creator is certainly a spectacle, with some impressive battle scenes and better than usual CGI, so it is crying out to be seen on the biggest screen possible. Edwards is on less sure ground between the action scenes, liberally borrowing from other movies, ranging from Apocalypse Now, Blade Runner, Children of Men to, inevitably, Spielberg’s A.I. and many others. I found myself enjoying the visual feast but not caring about the characters, so that the ’emotional’ climax, with Hans Zimmer’s score trying too hard to tug at the heartstrings, had no impact on me.
Washington is a little bland, with the acting honours going to Alison Janney and Ralph Ineson as army officers.
Rating: 6 out of 10