THE CREATOR

Building a lived-in science-fiction world is never easy within a single, feature-length film, but director Gareth Edwards' time in the IP machine – he is perhaps most well-known for directing the 'Stars Wars' prequel 'Rogue One' – seems to have served him well. At least from a visual standpoint, the details of the world presented in 'The Creator' feel like the clear vision of a driven director. Cinematographers Greig Fraser ('The Batman') and Oren Soffer ('Fixation'), along with some incredible visual effects work, make 'The Creator' by far one of the best-looking films of the year – which is even more impressive given its US$80 million budget, a modest figure by today's blockbuster standards. Prepare to feel your jaw drop as something as terrifying as a nuclear strike is somehow rendered into a thing of beauty through Fraser and Soffer's lenses.

John David Washington has long suffered from being out-acted by his supporting cast (see: Adam Driver in 'BlacKkKlansman' and Robert Pattinson in 'Tenet'), but 'The Creator' truly feels like his own film, turning in yet another great performance that requires both physical and emotional prowess. It also helps that the script never gives any of the other characters a chance to be fleshed out at the risk of overstuffing the runtime. What keeps 'The Creator' so exciting – and what might leave some audiences unsatisfied – is that it has so many characters, themes, and lore-building that to do any of these in detail would be detrimental to the film's balance, constantly jumping from one action set piece to the next. Never mind understanding the rationale behind "donating" one's likeness to simulants, for example; the script is adding yet another twist in Joshua's path to solving the disappearance of his wife Maya (Gemma Chan, 'Eternals'), all while trying to figure out whether to turn Alphie in. The film's brisk yet considered pace – even at 135 minutes it never feels a single moment too long – goes a really long way in disguising these holes. It's a shame because while many of the questions behind the practicality of 'The Creator's' world are no doubt a symptom of audiences needing every facet of their art explained to them, there are some elements, such as the aforementioned likeness donation system, that are thought-provoking and could look at the film's ideas in more interesting ways. For example, the AI are also shown participating in spiritual practices such as giving themselves proper burials; spirituality (or lack thereof) in technology is briefly touched on in 'The Creator', but not nearly enough to satisfy audience members looking for a bit more existentialism from their cinema-going.

Despite the stones it doesn't turn over, 'The Creator' actually attempts to give its story a proper conclusion, and I respect its decision to not try and leave the door open for future potential spin-offs or sequels. Ironically enough, despite my own questions and curiosities about the film's world – do simulants actually eat like humans, like the film implies? What's the difference between a simulant sleeping and being on "standby"? Why haven't robots gone extinct in light of the superior simulants existing? – the film's conclusion is satisfying enough that I doubt anyone will want these answers enough to desire a spin-off or sequel. It's okay to tell a standalone story with legitimate stakes that can't be undone in sequels, and this is something studios should do well to remember in the future.

While it's far from perfect, 'The Creator' is a welcome new science-fiction story. It's not saying anything new, just repackaging and upgrading the software on this strand of thematic storytelling – and sometimes that's all a film needs to do to be deemed worthy of an audience.