The Creator (2023) Dir: Gareth Edwards
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I recall being extremely excited, as I think many people were, when trailers and buzz began to grow around this Gareth Edwards directed sci-fi action film. However, my anticipation was quelled pretty severely after reading rafts of mediocre or negative reviews. As such, the film fell into the "waiting until it streams" category.
In isolation, I really liked some of the songs used in the film. However, as much as I love Radiohead, for example, it just didn't feel like the correct choice for the soundtrack. I would have preferred more original pieces of music - it would have felt more science fiction.
The film is absolutely beautiful from a visual standpoint. The CGI was magnificent at times, and the way some of it was integrated into the rest of the scenes was genuinely sublime. This, combined with a very nice colour scheme and aesthetic, made for a very satisfying viewing experience.
Gareth Edwards attempted to address some very big themes in his story, and while he didn't achieve this completely, there was certainly glimmers of some real thematic gold. However, unfortunately there just wasn't enough of this below the surface levels of the story.
The story takes a lot of inspiration from many science fiction films of the past, which I admittedly criticised Rebel Moon for heavily. Whilst the same critique is certainly justified, I do believe that Gareth Edwards was at least a little more refined in how he did this than Snyder was.
The script, whilst, as illuded to, pretty shallow, also managed to produce some emotional and poignant moments that I personally really enjoyed. Sure, it never really delves into some of the genuinely interesting ideas it brings to the table, but it does at least tell a fun surface level story.
The absolute highlight of the film was the performance of John David Washington, who was superb. I have considered him to be one of the best actors working for a while now, and this film is further evidence of this, as he drags a relatively one-note character to a memorable performance.
By contrast, I had very mixed feelings regarding the performance of child actor Madeleine Yuna Voyles. She had some wonderfully emotive scenes, which I appreciated a lot, but there was also some really bizarrely lacking ones too. Yes, this was no doubt influenced by the writing, but I still believe Voyles could have produced more from the role.
Both Gemma Chan and Ken Watanabe were very solid in their supporting roles, although both unfortunately suffered with two-dimensional writing that hampered their characters. However, it's hard to fault their actual acting per-say, especially Chan in the first act of the film.
The rest of the supporting cast also saw some pretty decent performances, though no exceptional ones; Allison Jenney, Marc Menchaca, Sturgill Simpson, Amar Chadha-Patel and Ralph Ineson. Of these names, Chadha-Patel was perhaps the most noteworthy, if only for one scene in particular.
Overall, I think I enjoyed this film more than I would have if I'd seen it at the cinema, mainly because my expectations had been lowered so much. It's very style over substance, but boy, such style. I just wish that Edwards had delved into the film's themes a little more, and had provided more well-rounded characters.
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