MOVIE REVIEW: THE CREATOR

 

As a future war between the human race and artificial intelligence rages on, ex-special forces agent Joshua is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI. The Creator has developed a mysterious weapon that has the power to end the war and all of mankind. As Joshua and his team of elite operatives venture into enemy-occupied territory, they soon discover the world-ending weapon is actually an AI in the form of a young child.

Director: Gareth Edwards

Cast: John David Washington, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, Sturgill Simpson, Allison Janney

Release Date: September 29, 2023

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Rated PG-13 for violence, some bloody images and strong language

Runtime: 2h 15m

Gareth Edwards The Creator is a sprawling sci-fi epic that's got a distinctive visual style that echoes its massive scope.  Edwards mines a variety of sources such as Blade Runner, District 9, Children of Men, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, and a small dash of Kubrick's 2001 in the final shot.  The result is a cornucopia of fully realized settings that feel lived in and real that keeps the film from feeling too artificial.  Story wise it's equally expansive and grounded even as it traverses some well worn story threads, particularly the child messiah idea from The Terminator but opting to flip the script.  It’s a dense story that throws a hefty amount of thematic ideas that makes the film work both as something literal and as a more allegorical tale which the best kind of sci-fi tends to do.  Needless to say, it’s the kind of hard sci-fi that we rarely see these days especially on the scope and scale that Edwards delivers.  Its deadly serious from start to finish with performances that are equally committed to their roles.  John David Washington leads the film with a heartfelt, driven performance which gives him ample time to shine.  He serves as the anchor of the film, keeping everything tethered to the emotional core of the story.  Newcomer Madeleine Yuna Voyles, who plays Alphie the child AI, is impressive throughout with her and Washington sharing strong chemistry together even as the script starts to thug on heartstrings a tad too much in the final act.  The supporting cast is solid even if they do take a backseat to the central relationship with Ken Watanabe and Allison Janney leaving the biggest impression.  Watanabe gets his moments, but the film would have been smart to take better advantage of his talented presence.  Janney does get more screen time which she uses to deliver an icy, stone cold killer turn that could have come off as cartoonish in lesser hands.  She makes for a compelling villain, but the script doesn't give the character a ton of depth outside of a few passing lines of dialogue early on.  Its one of the minor issues that peppers the film in addition to pacing issues here and there that make the film feel longer than its actual runtime and some fairly noticeable logical leaps the story ask you make at various points in the plot.  Still, The Creator is an achievement on multiple levels from its stark visuals to its ability to take well worn tropes feel fresh again.

B+

MOVIE REVIEW: THE HUNT

Twelve strangers wake up in a clearing. They don't know where they are -- or how they got there. In the shadow of a dark internet conspiracy theory, ruthless elitists gather at a remote location to hunt humans for sport. But their master plan is about to be derailed when one of the hunted, Crystal, turns the tables on her pursuers.

Director: Craig Zobel

Cast: Betty Gilpin, Ike Barinholtz, Emma Roberts, Hilary Swank, Ethan Suplee, Sturgill Simpson

Release Date: March 13, 2020

Action, Horror, Thriller

Rated R for strong bloody violence, and language throughout.

Runtime: 1 h 29 min

Review:

The Hunt is every bit as stupid as it looks and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  It’s over the top Twitter political comment fight come to gruesome life is goofy and ham handed.  A bit of subtleness would have made this film just a tad bit more meaningful but as it’s an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon come to life.  In the first few minutes you sense every strand of it’s Grindhouse origin, it owes a lot to the 80s splatterfest Turkey Shoot.  Taken in that context, it’s a fun lark with a goofy but fun script.  Craig Zobel and his cast all have their tongue firmly in cheek so it’s never overly serious which lets all the blood and gore play as funny.  The cast, especially at the beginning, is made of a round table of familiar faces from TV but don’t get to attached to anyone because only a few are long for this brisk film’s runtime.  At it’s center is Betty Gilpin who carries the whole film with her wonderful turn which will remind people of Samara Weaving in last years Ready or Not and Sharni Vinson in Your Next.  It’s a fun performance that makes you look past the fact that her character is a murder machine in a Victoria Secret body.  It’s nothing new for Gilpin whose mastered that type of dichotomy in Netflix’s GLOW but here she can just go all out and have fun.  There’s no subtlety to this film and you’ll probably enjoy it more than you’d willingly admit.


C+