The action film has earned particular praise for its imaginative vision of the future.
The Creator, one of the best sci-fi movies of the decade so far, has just been added to Prime Video.
From director Gareth Edwards (2014’s Godzilla, Rogue One), the 2023 film takes place in a near future when a nuclear warhead was detonated over Los Angeles, leading to humanity becoming embroiled in a war against robots with artificial intelligence.
Amidst the conflict, a former US Army sergeant and undercover operative named Joshua (John David Washington, Tenet) is approached by the military (fronted by Alison Janney and Ralph Ineson) to join a mission to destroy a new weapon engineered by the AI.
Travelling to New Asia – an area which has embraced artificial intelligence – Joshua and his strike team invade a compound believed to be holding the weapon but discover only a robot in the form of a young girl (Madeleine Yuna Voyles).
Joshua is then ordered to kill the robot child but cannot bring himself to do so. As such, the former sergeant turns against his team and goes on the run with the girl.
Co-written by Edwards (who JOE interviewed at the time of the film’s release) and Chris Weitz, The Creator’s cast also features such as recognisable faces as Amar Chadha-Patel, Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, Marc Menchaca, Michael Esper, Sturgill Simpson and Veronica Ngo.
The movie was well-liked by critics for the most part – earning particular praise for its imaginative vision of the future, its incredible robot character designs and the epic scale of its set-pieces.
Those qualities are all the more impressive given that the sci-fi was made on a relatively low (for Hollywood!) budget of $80 million.
You can read samples of some of the positive write-ups for The Creator right here:
AV Club: “With few other comparable releases in play, The Creator is likely to stand as the most impressive and immersive sci-fi movie of the year.”
BBC: “Edwards’ ambitious, immersive film should prompt the intoxicating awe that you might have got from The Matrix and Avatar – the feeling that you’re seeing a rich vision of the future unlike any that has been on the big screen before.”
Empire: “An inspired, soulful piece of sci-fi, the endlessly stunning visuals all in service of a heartfelt, sensitive story. Gareth Edwards is the real deal — this is fantastic, enveloping cinema.”
Independent (UK): “An increasingly rare piece of mainstream cinema that proves CGI can be good for art when placed in the right hands.”
Little White Lies: “Not only does The Creator work as a good time at the movies, but it is also a reminder that mid-budget, (somewhat) original, crowd-pleasing stories can be told with aplomb.”
Meanwhile, we here at JOE we’re also huge fans of The Creator, comparing it at the time of its release to Avatar and District 9 and writing:
“The Creator is exactly the kind of movie that people often complain Hollywood doesn’t make any more. An action sci-fi blockbuster that isn’t a sequel or based on any previously existing intellectual property, it features some eye-popping visuals, properly exciting set-pieces, and features and emotionality and intelligence that has become more and more rare as movies get more and more expensive.”
How to watch The Creator
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The Creator is available to stream on Prime Video and Disney+ in the UK and Ireland.
If you want to watch it but want to save the cash, you could use this technique with an Amazon Fire Stick to save money.
The trick is something called ‘leapfrogging’, which is a way to skip between shorter, cheaper subscriptions to watch what you want to watch without signing up for expensive year-long contracts.
For example, you can get a basic Netflix package for £6.99, and stream what you want to watch via your Fire Stick and cancel it before your next bill.
You can then take advantage of the free trials of other services without signing up to them, all from the same place on your Fire Stick, so it’s super easy and convenient!
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