the new SF nugget? Our Review

While we are barely recovering from summer blockbusters, notably Barbie, Oppenheimer and Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1, back to school is knocking at the door, and not just a little, since September 27, that is -say tomorrow as I record this video, marks the big return of Gareth Edwards. A 48-year-old British-born filmmaker, he made his name with Monsters in 2010, an extra-terrestrial film which was in reality a parable about the consequences of Hurricane Katrina. A metaphorical tone that we will also find in the rest of these other films, whether it is Godzilla or Star Wars Rogue One, and which allowed him to quickly stand out from the crowd among upcoming filmmakers. A bit like Neil Blomkamp, ​​with whom he shares some themes. It is this rather particular approach to the American blockbuster that makes Gareth Edwards a more atypical, less formatted director. He is not a yes-man from Hollywood studios, like many of his colleagues, and to each of his films, he brings his vision, his artistic touch.

With The Creator, Gareth Edwards wanted to talk about artificial intelligence, a subject which has dominated SF cinema for almost 50 years, but which today has a rather particular resonance, in a context where ChatGPT and these new software are capable to break the barrier between truth and falsehood. If Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning fell into an exaggerated and completely has-been caricature of the AI ​​which is capable of manipulating men, in The Creator, it takes on a human envelope, carnal and full of love, undoubtedly the main theme from the film by Gareth Edwards. Besides, a little anecdote, during the entire process of creating his film, The Creator had another name, True Love, which takes on its full meaning once you have seen the film. But we’re not going to lie, for an action sci-fi film, True Love wasn’t a great seller, while The Creator is immediately more impactful, especially when we think about the obvious references in the film. echoes. I’ll expand on that later, but we see Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Blade Runner, Avatar and even District 9.

Before we continue to elaborate, let’s maybe talk about the story of the film. What exactly does it say? From the war that Humanity is waging against AI, which has become autonomous and which is capable of waging war, but also peace, you will see, in Men, those with a capital H. We are in the near future, in 2065 to be exact. Artificial Intelligence, which we find in the form of robots, is being hunted down by the West, or rather the United States after it was accused of having mishandled a nuclear warhead 15 years ago , causing an explosion in the middle of Los Angeles, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths. All of Humanity has signed a pact to eradicate these AIs, except New Asia, which includes all the countries of Southeast Asia. Cambodia, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, Nepal, there, AIs live in harmony and peace with human beings. To track and massacre the AI ​​robot, the Americans have designed a spaceship that floats above the earth like a satellite, and which is capable of scanning every corner of the Earth and then exterminating them with warheads. Yes, it’s quite radical, but it’s quite accurate with the methods of the American army, no need to draw a picture. We could see this as a rather caricatured treatment of the American military order in the film, but when we know through numerous biopics that they are as harsh in their reflections as their actions, personally, that suits me well.

In any case, The Creator is also a film in which Gareth Edwards denounces, or at least dares to draw a metaphorical parallel, because the specter of the Vietnam War is never far away. You just have to see how the British filmmaker treats the subject and films the assaults of American soldiers in Asian villages to understand where he is coming from. There is also a scene that is quite emotionally strong, with the young actress Tangkwa Chananticha, barely 10 years old and who bursts onto the screen, recalling dark moments of the Vietnam War. Tangkwa Chananticha who we saw last June in the film Farang by Xavier Gens, and who played the role of Nassim Lyès’ granddaughter. An actress to watch closely given the incredible potential.

But she is not the only one, Madeleine Yuna Voyles who plays the role of Alphie, also succeeds in making her scenes emotionally strong, she who is not even 10 years old either, for whom it is the first role in the cinema, and which carries all the interest around her, knowing that she has a lot of scenes with John David Wahsington, Denzel’s film. The latter is perhaps the least compelling element of the film, as I find that he lacks emotional palettes in his acting. Towards the end, he manages to transcend himself, while in the rest of the film, he remains quite stoic and limited in his performances. Fortunately, he is accompanied by other actors who lift the film to the top, Gemma Chan, who we saw in The Eternals for her most popular role, Allison Janey, used to supporting roles, but who is quite credible in that of a war veteran, but also Ken Watanabe, who obviously no longer needs to be introduced, and who plays the role of a particularly loyal AI robot soldier.

Obviously, there are some fairly telephonic moments in The Creator, but others are more unexpected, but the treatment of this realistic sci-fi, a bit like Christopher Nolan, allows you to come out of the film with a lot of questions in your head. We are in the midst of global surveillance, which reminds us that we have never been so anonymous behind our computer and smartphone screens. The Creator is clearly a film of anticipation, and everything that contemporary technology brings us every day confirms this. Obviously, it is his words which make The Creator a very interesting and quite poignant film, but the film also seduces with its visual rendering, which is the other great strength of this blockbuster produced for 80 million dollars. An almost ridiculous amount when you know to what extent it is full of SF details. How is it possible ? Quite simply by working with a small team. When we met Gareth Edwards last week during his visit to Paris, he explained to us that what matters a lot of money is the number of technicians for each scene shot. Sometimes there are more than 300 people on a filming location and when you’re traveling around the world, you not only have to pay them, but also spend on travel expenses. So, for The Creator, Garath Edwards made the film in reverse, with extremely small teams. Some shots in the Himalayas were even filmed with a simple crew of three: Gareth Edwards, actor John David Washington and a producer. Light filming in “guerrilla” mode, with natural light and real settings from South-East Asian countries.

Already, shooting in natural settings is less expensive than building sets in the studio, and what’s more, it allows you to come back with fabulous images. Then, he gave his instructions to the special effects teams to agree on the artistic direction he wanted for his film. This is where he talks about making the film in reverse, producing visual effects with what was filmed and not imposing specifications made before filming, with effects already imagined before leaving for the 4 corners of the world. It seems simple like that, but this way of working is the antithesis of the habits of Hollywood studios, and The Creator could well redefine the way of working and filming if production costs must now be minimized.
Gareth Edwards also explained to me that he went with ultra-light equipment to shoot certain scenes, like this modest Sony FX3 camera, which costs a maximum of €4,000 and fits in a small bag.

That’s also The Creator and Gareth Edwards’ cinema in general, making a grandiose film, a big American blockbuster; but with independent, family-oriented methods, without distorting his work. Because we must remember that Gareth Edwards has for more than ten years been one of the filmmakers we can count on to produce science fiction that is at once demanding, precise and emotionally engaging. Three elements that come together in this Creator that we highly recommend. Beautiful and intelligent films, and what’s more, they have a soundtrack by Hans Zimmer which delivers a particularly hypnotizing theme, it’s not every day that we see them, is it…

OUR RATING: 8/10