The Creator movie review: Gareth Edwards’ new film is a true waste of potential

From writer/director Gareth Edwards comes a sci-fi thriller starring John David Washington, The Creator. Is the film worth checking out on the big screen, or should you wait until it hits VOD? Below we share our review of the film and let you know.

The Creator follows a future war between AI and the human race that sees ex-special forces agent Joshua hired to hunt down and kill the Creator. However, a potential reunion with his wife causes Joshua to go rogue causing an even bigger war. Washington stars in the lead role alongside Gemma Chen, Ken Watanabe, and Allison Janney.

When we meet Joshua and Maya talking about their future as they lay in bed, Joshua rubs their visibly pregnant belly. However the mood shifts quickly when their place is under attack leading to many deaths. The war continued leading to these agents recruiting Joshua back into the mix because he had important knowledge of where the Creator might be. Although reluctant, they dangled a carrot before him, and he agreed to join the war.

The Creator script lacks development

The relationship between Joshua and Maya is a central focus of the story, yet we never get to see them fully developed as a couple until later in the film. If they had taken the brief amount of time in the first act to invest me in caring about Joshua wanting to do what he could to reunite with the woman he loves, maybe the film’s emotional beats would’ve landed better.

Some of the stand-out things within The Creator are the performances of John David Washington and Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Hans Zimmer’s score that does the heavy lifting in the emotional beats missing from the script, and some visually stunning moments that will have you saying, wow.

Overall, The Creator has some genuine high moments, but the frustrating plot holes and the lack of development in Joshua and Maya’s relationship make the film disappointing. As I sat outside the theater discussing the film with another critic, I noticed other little things that made me more upset with the movie. Should you see it on the big screen? No, but if you have Regal/AMC unlimited, take the risk and check it out.

The Creator hits theaters on Sept. 29, 2023.