Gareth Edwards’ The Creator Continues to Look Very Promising

When I first became aware of Gareth Edwards’ upcoming sci-fi movie The Creator a few months back, I immediately filed it away in the “Looks Promising” category of my brain. The movie has continued to intrigue me ever since, and now with the release of its latest trailer, I’m trying to maintain some realistic expectations. But it’s difficult.

For starters, it’s an original sci-fi story by Edwards and Chris Weitz (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), which feels like a precious commodity in this era of sequels and reboots. Here’s the official synopsis:

Amidst a future war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence, Joshua, a hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife, is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war… and mankind itself. Joshua and his team of elite operatives journey across enemy lines, into the dark heart of AI-occupied territory… only to discover the world-ending weapon he’s been instructed to destroy is an AI in the form of a young child.

What’s more, The Creator looks great, visually speaking. Edwards has always had a good eye, even going all the way back to 2010’s Monsters (his feature debut). And though I was initially cool to his Godzilla film, I’ve probably watched more sequences from that (especially Godzilla’s battles with the MUTOs) than any other recent Godzilla movie on the strength of Edwards’ visuals. As a type nerd, I’m also intrigued by the film’s logo; you don’t often see elegant serif typefaces used in the context of sci-fi. Finally, the film’s AI-centric storyline feels very timely in this day and age of authors sewing AI developers and striking actors expressing concern that AI will replace them.

The Creator stars John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, and Allison Janney and will be released on September 29, 2023.