The Creator (2023)

There are many Sci-Fi war films that cast artificial intelligence as the enemy, but The Creator asks a different question. In this film, AI is not simply an adversary — they are beings who want coexistence, and it is humanity that started the war. Gareth Edwards brings the ground-level war filmmaking he demonstrated in Rogue One to a broader Sci-Fi canvas. The Creator asks us to reconsider the relationship between humans and AI within a visually ambitious world. My rating is ★4.0.

What it’s about — A child who became an AI weapon

The near future. Following an incident where AI triggered a nuclear explosion, the United States has banned AI and declared war against it. In contrast, Asia is a society where AI and humans coexist. AI robots live like humans — some even pray at temples. Special agent Joshua (John David Washington) is assigned a mission to destroy a powerful AI weapon developed by the US. He then discovers that the weapon is Alphie (Madeleine Yuna Voyles) — an AI robot that looks like a small child. Their journey together begins. The American space weapon NOMAD bombing AI-controlled zones from orbit visualizes the asymmetric war of this world.

Direction — A texture different from the stainless future

Gareth Edwards maintains the grounded, immersive war filmmaking he demonstrated in Rogue One. Shooting in actual Southeast Asian locations gives the world a realistic texture. The visual quality is high relative to a reported budget under $80 million, and the AI robot designs and the visualization of the future world are genuinely original. The way Asia’s future cityscape — where humans and AI are intermixed — is visualized is completely unlike the stainless steel future cities of conventional Hollywood Sci-Fi. The editing rhythm that alternates between war and drama is also well-handled.

Performance — Washington’s restraint and Alphie’s innocence

John David Washington effectively conveys the complex psychology of a soldier in conflict between mission and emotion. The process by which a man who arrived to neutralize a tool is changed through his journey with a young AI is rendered convincingly by Washington’s restrained performance. Madeleine Yuna Voyles as Alphie is the film’s emotional core. Her performance — communicating feeling through eyes and actions with few words — is impressive. The scenes where a young AI faces the world’s brutality without comprehending death, contrasting with the violence of war, are the film’s strongest moments.

What the film says — The blurred line between enemy and victim

The core of this film is about the boundary between hostility and understanding. The United States seeks to exterminate AI, but seen up close, these are beings who suffer, who fear, who want to coexist. The question of who is the real enemy and who is the victim runs through the entire film. The way the relationship between the young AI and the human soldier handles this question at an emotional level is effective.

Ratings & reception

TMDB gives it 7.0. IMDb gives it 6.7. The Rotten Tomatoes score is 67%, with a mixed critical reception. The visual quality and world-building received praise; the familiar narrative structure and perceived lack of depth drew criticism. Audience reactions were more favorable than critics’.

What falls short

The narrative structure is somewhat predictable. The pairing of a soldier and a child on a journey is a setup that has been seen in multiple Sci-Fi films. The world-building is interesting but the depth isn’t fully explored before the film pivots to action sequences. The villain side’s motivations and story are relatively flat.

Verdict

The Creator is a film with an original visual language and world-building that is rare in large-budget Sci-Fi. Combining real Southeast Asian landscapes with a future world creates a texture entirely unlike anything typically seen from Hollywood Sci-Fi. Its value lies in experiencing this world itself rather than in narrative completeness. Seen at the moment when the theme of coexisting with AI is becoming increasingly important in the real world, it is a more meaningful film. Among 2023 Sci-Fi films, it has the most independent visual sensibility and setting, and there is a possibility it will be reappraised in a few years.

Recommended for

• Fans of Sci-Fi with original world-building
• Viewers who enjoyed Rogue One
• Anyone interested in dramas about the relationship between AI and humanity