'The Creator' film review: Sci-fi spectacle powered by AI angst, tender humanity

Writer-director Gareth Edwards proves his cred goes well beyond 'Star Wars' and 'Godzilla' with 'The Creator' (in theaters Sept. 29), one of the very strongest big screen sci-fi spectacles of the past decade.

In short: As humans and robots battle a war for control of the Earth, human soldier Joshua (John David Washington) is recruited to find the AI creator's new weapon: a little girl (Madeleine Yuna Voyles).

Simply put, 'The Creator' is one of the great cinematic sci-fi works of the modern era. This is a film that absolutely demands to be taken in on the biggest screen possible - especially in IMAX. Edwards has crafted a very specific vision of a bleak future, wherein humans and AI fight an existential battle for survival. For all the tentpole blockbuster flicks that have come and gone in recent years - everything from Marvel to 'Star Wars' to 'Avatar,' 'The Creator' has the epic scale and bold vision that so many other genre flicks lack, making it a must-see in theaters.

And for all the big screen spectacle, the real heart of the 'The Creator' lies within the relationship between the traumatized veteran soldier Joshua and young Alphie, a young AI robot girl who may pose the single greatest threat to humanity yet (Washington and Yuna Voyles). While reminiscent of other "older surrogate guardian forced to take care of young child" (ie 'The Mandalorian' or 'The Last of Us'), their respective performances hold the film together. Yuna Voyles exudes a purity as she takes in the chaos of the outside world for the first time, witnessing the war between man and machines where she is the key for either side's survival. To offset Alpie's light is the morally grey and tortured war veteran Joshua, a man who only accepts the mission as a mean's to find his long-lost love.

While the Joshua-Alphie relationship is the heart and soul of 'The Creator,' the entire plot is driven by Joshua's determination to find his wife Maya (Gemma Chan), who he had assumed died many years earlier. And like any plot driving device, the relationship between Joshua and Maya is terribly underdeveloped. Joshua starts from a place of rudderless survival - and the only reason he accepts his mission is because he believes Maya is still alive.

This script needed to make Maya much more integral to Joshua's journey and it needed to better flesh out their romance, which would inform Joshua's choices and justify his determination. But Maya is denied all but the minimal amount of screen time, thus limiting the time the audience gets to see and understand Joshua and Maya's connection and love. If the entire impetus for Joshua choosing to re-enter the human-robot war is rooted deeply in his relationship to Maya, the film would have been better served in deeply immersing the film in all his complex emotions related to Maya - regret, betrayal and love. Sadly, underserving Maya also underserves the story depth.

If 'The Matrix' and 'The Terminator' proves anything, it's that these decades old films are steeped in a fundamental distrust of artificial intelligence, with the general assumption being that robots will inevitably eradicate humans. And in this era of massive leaps in AI tech in real time, 'The Creator' taps into a simmering anxiety rooted in the wondering where the fragility of humanity will fit in alongside rapidly advancing AI. But what's most impressive about 'The Creator' is the humanity rooted in this film's very premise. The machines are infused with humanity, and not merely depicted as ice cold machines programmed only for efficient genocide. And the humans simultaneously shown to feel deeply connected to their robot allies and friends - while also other militaristic humans almost seem singularly programmed to wipe out their AI enemies.

Final verdict: 'The Creator' is a thoughtful and bold sci-fi feat that beats with humane empathy, rage, regret and love. Although some shallow elements advancing the plot are thin, strong performances and visual stunning elements make this a sci-fi flick worth the premium IMAX upgrade.

Score: 4/5

'The Creator' opens in theaters nationwide on Sept.29. This action adventure has a runtime of 133 minutes and is rated PG-13 for some strong violence, disturbing images and thematic elements.