[Review] The Creator (6/10)

Title - The Creator
Production - 20th Century Studios, New Regency Productions, Entertainment One
Starring - John David Washington, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Allison Janney, Ken Watanabe, Gemma Chan, Sturgill Simpson, Amar Chadha-Patel, Marc Menchaca, Veronica Ngo
Writer - Gareth Edwards, Chris Weitz
Director - Chris Weitz
Release - 29 September 2023

There's quite a dilemma in writing this review. 

On the one hand, the way Gareth Edwards created this world was nothing short of a Star Wars movie at its best. Think of Rogue One, which Edwards directed as well, but think of that same quality just with half the budget. That's what The Creator has proven to Hollywood what can be achieved even with a small budget.

On the other hand, the writing was not good. The setup in the first act was good. It was in the second half of the movie, somewhere in the second act, things started to fall apart little by little. The setup of this world was that Asians were friends of A.I. So why did they try so hard to hide the A.I. Alphie? 

Then there was the character played by Sturgill Simpson who suddenly became a good guy? But we didn't see what was his motivation.

When the enemies started storming the rebel camp, the way Edwards chose to shoot some of those scenes were just baffling to me. Like how none of the rebels realized the gigantic mechanical walker was walking into their hiding place?

And by the third act, when they were trying to blow up the spacecraft, nothing made sense anymore. I couldn't help but wonder if these big, flashy, "Hollywood" scenes were written in just to create some tension for the audience. But when you stop and thought about the scene for a moment you would start to ask the questions I was asking while watching the movie.

(At least now we know that the success of Rogue One was probably not from the writing of Chris Weitz, but the other writers credited.)

Also, I am baffled again by how much Hollywood loves John David Washington. He's not charismatic at all and for him to be leading a movie is, I think, asking too much of him. His acting chops are just not leading man material. 

Everyone else was good though. Ken Watanabe always lends credence and realism to sci-fi stories. Allison Janney was a great villain. And first timer Madeleine Yuna Voyles was very convincing, though how her character was written confused me a little.

It really was a pity this movie wasn't better, because Hollywood these days are just giving in to what directors ask for when helming a franchise property. And here we have The Creator, an original movie with no IP, but I believed in this world that was created.