Google Drive The Creator
Is Gareth Edwards’ The Creator primed to enter the pantheon of great sci-fi movies? Or should we be wary of all the hype? Because – like our future machine overlords – the hype is coming.
Ahead of any official reviews of the AI-centric piece, studio 20th Century has allowed select critics to tweet their opinions, and the consensus seems to be that this could be the discerning sci-fi fan’s movie of the year. To reach that level for me, Edwards would have to deliver a film on a par with Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 (2009), Alex Garland’s Ex-Machina (2014) or Grant Sputore’s I Am Mother (2019). These films were full of vim and verve and imagined future worlds so rich and detailed that you can imagine never-ending sequels spinning off into infinity – perhaps the mark of all great celluloid sci-fi.
In 2010 Edwards announced himself as the coming man of sci-fi with the splendid low-budget effort Monsters. Since then he has hitched his wagon to the studio machine, becoming something of a film-maker for hire on big-budget efforts such as Godzilla in 2014 and 2016’s Rogue One. Neither turned out perfectly, as I discussed in this previous piece. But if all that loyalty to the corporate behemoth has given him licence to deliver something truly esoteric, all will be forgiven.
Starring
John David Washington
Madeleine Yuna Voyles
Gemma Chan
