Cinematic Point Of View

I love Gareth Edwards movies. They are not perfect, but they are the kind of movies I want to see. Rogue One. Godzilla. Monsters. I feel like he suffers from the dangers of the editing room, and budget, and would love to watch some super long cuts of all his films.

I recently watched The Creator again. It was my first time since seeing the theater. I remember walking out of film, shook by the emotions of it all, but also realizing it was a little breezy in the story department. That didn’t distract from how much I enjoyed it though.

The Creator stars Ken Watanabe, John David Washington, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Gemma Chan, and Allison Janney. The story is set in a near-future world where humanity is at war with AI after a nuclear bomb is set off in Los Angeles. John David Washington is a former special forces agent who must hunt down a powerful and mysterious new AI weapon before it’s too late.

The story unfolds in the very familiar “father figure must get the child to safety” manner, which, as a Dad, is just what I wanna see. Target audience hit.

Watching it again with my son, and having no expectations this time, I really loved it. Life and death. What is consciousness? The role of class in society. Poverty. Imperialism. Forgiveness. Love. There are so many little moments I didn’t catch the first time around.

The Hanz Zimmer score hits just right. Lots of great rock n roll musical touches throughout that make it feel more like a free spirited indie production.

The visual effects are stellar. If Godzilla Minus One hadn’t won I would have been pulling for this team for the Oscar. The locations are all beautiful and exotic as well.

John David Washington as Joshua is good. He works. He’s not really a big hero in any sense so having him be sort of ordinary in how he handles almost everything fits the bill.

Madeleine Yuna Voyles as Alphie is the real homerun. She is the glue that keeps the entire thing together. Boy howdy those scenes near the end will get ya right in the heart.

Anyway, love it or hate, it’s a beautiful, emotional spectacle.

Like life itself, it’s messy but it works.