A new sci-fi film is afoot from Gareth Edwards, who we know because of his work in big franchises like Star Wars and Monsterverse – The Creator. The film stars John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Ken Wantanabe, Amar Chadha-Patel, Benedict Wong and Allison Janney. Based on Edwards’ past works and the film’s trailer, The Creator looks like a visual delight which has to be witnessed on the biggest screen possible. The film opened up to extremely positive first reactions and reviews. However, as with most films, when the embargo lifts that is when we get the real thoughts of critics out which are often harsh. The Creator now stands at a 76% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an IMDb score of 7.2/10. While everyone is praising the beautiful visuals conjured up by Greig Fraser, critics are feeling the film is emotionally distant. Check out the full reviews below.
The Creator Reviews Roundup – Mixed Reviews!
Randy Myers (San Jose Mercury News) – “It’s a visual head trip that will move you and begs to be seen more than once.” Original Score: 3.5/4
Rafer Guzman (Newsday) – “A slick-looking sci-fi epic that lacks a beating heart.” Original Score: 2/4
Mick LaSalle (San Francisco Chronicle) – “If you take the movie seriously — and it wants to be taken seriously — “The Creator” is basically saying we should surrender to the robots, even ones that kill people, especially if they have good manners or take the shape of a little kid.” Original Score: 1/4
David Sims (The Atlantic) – “The spectacle of The Creator is the film’s real star, which isn’t quite enough to sustain a running time of more than two hours. Even so, The Creator is a high-level craft achievement that is undeniably cool on a big screen.”
Hannah Strong (London Evening Standard) – “It’s a handsome film and demonstrates the filmmakers’ vivid imagination, but this doesn’t quite extend to the story itself, or its dialogue which often veers into cheesy territory.” Original Score: 2/5
Robbie Collin {Daily Telegraph (UK)} – “The Creator reverberates with that sort of doomy relish: it’s been too long since a good time at the cinema felt this serious, let alone vice versa.” Original Score: 4/5
Noah Berlatsky (Chicago Reader) – “The Creator is a movie about AI that is hammered, welded, and spackled together from a whole lot of other better and more coherent films.”
Kevin Maher {Times (UK)} – “When a film has no soul the messaging tends to flop about indiscriminately in a multidirectional haze.” Original Score: 2/5
Hoai-Tran Bui (Inverse) – “The Creator is a visually stunning but emotionally hollow effort from the Rogue One director that mistakes its inspired vision of a new kind of sci-fi world for greatness.”
Katie Walsh (Tribune News Service) – “This kind of big, original movie is unfortunately all too rare in the Hollywood of today, and Edwards creates something that’s truly remarkable to take in…[but] underneath this shiny surface, there are unfortunately critical issues with the motherboard.” Original Score: 2.5/4
Barry Hertz (Globe and Mail) – “The film is, as far as contemporary studio thinking goes, a gamble. And it pays off wonderfully.”
Tomris Laffly (TheWrap) – “Gareth Edwards’ sci-fi fantasy is thrillingly original despite its murky take on AI.”
Glenn Whipp (Los Angeles Times) – “Unfortunately, there’s precious little in “The Creator” that feels fresh, particularly if you’ve seen one of the first two “Terminator” movies, watched “The Last of Us” or bought your kid (OK, yourself) a Baby Yoda plush toy.”
Alonso Duralde (The Film Verdict) – “If the script wants viewers to perceive the robots as well-meaning, innocent victims — metaphorically or otherwise — it doesn’t stick that landing.”
Justin Lowe (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.” Original Score: B+
Clarisse Loughrey {Independent (UK)} – “An increasingly rare piece of mainstream cinema that proves CGI can be good for art when placed in the right hands.” Original Score: 4/5
Soren Andersen (Seattle Times) – “Too often Edwards’ attempts to work so many diverse elements into his narrative result in tangles of disconcerting confusion.” Original Score: 2.5/4
A.A. Dowd (IGN Movies) – “As pure spectacle, The Creator is often jaw-dropping in its imagery, its relatively frugal special effects, and the detailed depth of its futuristic design. It’s shakier as drama and sci-fi…” Original Score: 7/10
Mark Jenkins (Washington Post) – “Overloaded with incidents, effects and explosions, “The Creator” fails to develop the personalities and relationships that would give its central characters an affecting humanity.” Original Score: 2/4
Nicholas Barber (BBC.com) – “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.” Original Score: 5/5
The Creator will debut in theatres near you on September 29th, 2023.
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