If there’s one thing we can always rely on Gareth Edwards for, it’s to breathe fresh life into well-explored territory. The inventive director managed to add gritty new dimensions and gut-wrenching emotional impact to the Star Wars franchise with Rogue One, elevating it to the status of saga highlight, as well as making Godzilla entertaining again. Now, he’s reinvigorating the sci-fi genre with The Creator starring the magnetic combination of John David Washington, Gemma Chan, and Ken Watanabe.
Amidst a future war that rages on between the human race and artificial intelligence far beyond both ChatGPT and RizzGPT, Joshua (John David Washington) — your typical hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife — is recruited to hunt down and kill the titular Creator. What’s so special about the latter? As per the synopsis, they’re an elusive architect of advanced AI who has apparently developed some kind of mysterious weapon with the power to end the war and potentially humankind itself.
Admittedly, this is a storyline we’ve encountered on several occasions to the point where (at least on paper), it’s tropey as all hell. In fact, the trailer will probably provoke easy comparisons with the likes of Terminator, Blade Runner, Ex Machina, Chappie, with a splash of Children of Men. But like we said before, Gareth Edwards’ execution — along with breathtaking cinematography from his Rogue One collaborator Greig Fraser (Zero Dark Thirty, Dune, The Batman) — is what sets it apart. Plus, personally speaking, we’ve never really had a bad time watching John David Washington, Gemma Chan, and Ken Watanabe work their screen magic.
Enough chit-chat. Gareth Edwards’ The Creator currently has a scheduled release date of September 29th, 2023 — check out the trailer above.
