Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Creator 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

What's it all about, Alphie?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 5, 2023

This may not be the prevailing opinion, but at least currently (emphasis on that currently part) there are limits to so-called artificial intelligence. Case in point: when the recent fracas involving Sam Altman and OpenAI broke out, and because I have a completely unkempt sense of humor, I of course headed over more or less immediately to ChatGPT to ask it (him? her? them?) what was going on, and was repeatedly told, "I don't have up to date information", no matter how I phrased the question. Yeah, right. That perhaps hilarious outcome notwithstanding, The Creator posits a (near) future world where A.I. has few if any limits, and we poor, distraught humans may be on the brink of extinction as a result (something that evidently played into OpenAI's Board attempting to remove Altman, since they evidently were more concerned about that potentiality than Altman was, at least according to some news reports). In a way it's also kind of funny to hear co- producer, co-writer and director Gareth Edwards talk in the making of supplement included on this disc about wanting to approach a studio with the idea of producing a science fiction extravaganza for what many bean counters might think of as a miniscule budget, since The Creator reportedly ended up costing some $80 million, certainly not a "mere pittance" by anyone's standards. The result is a frequently very interesting film, with some perhaps slightly muddled "metaphysics", but which has some rather interesting "echoes" of any number of both science fiction tinged and other offerings, including (and get ready for a trifecta you've probably never seen before) District 9, Apocalypse Now and Little Buddha, as odd as that may sound.

While there's a certain "apartheid" element to the story with regard to A.I. creatures (quasi-aliens) being sequestered to one region that may recall District 9, there's also an opening montage of quasi-"found footage" that may also recall that earlier effort. Here, it's a quick "survey" documenting the rise of robots and artificial intelligence, which supposedly leads to a devastating nuclear explosion in Los Angeles perpetrated by our supposed "helpers". That leads the Western countries to outlaw A.I., while the kind of 1984-ish sounding New Asia still approves of the technology. That has led the United States to launch various missions into New Asia to take out A.I., courtesy of a flying fortress known as NOMAD.

Joshua Taylor (John David Washington) is a vet living with his pregnant wife Maya (Gemma Chan) in an idyllic New Asia locale, when they're suddenly beset with a NOMAD expeditionary force invading their little enclave. It's quickly revealed that Taylor is actually an undercover operative working with the United States military to find the whereabouts of Nirmata, who is supposedly responsible for A.I. "evolution". This is just one place where the screenplay might have been a bit more forthcoming, something that spills over into a later revelation involving a new "super weapon" that Nirmata evidently created, a child "simulant" (as the robots are called in this enterprise) whom Jackson dubs Alphie (an absolutely adorable Madeleine Yuna). Two questions may occur to inquiring minds about this particular plot strand, which admittedly may have at least allusive answers offered: first, did an adult simulant give birth to Alphie, and second, can child simulants actually grow up? Vis a vis nothing in particular other than production design, there is a rather wide gamut of simulant "looks" in this enterprise, including quasi-humans but also (to cite yet another weird cinematic referent) what almost look like, well, grown up WALL•Es.

Without revealing too much of a rather convoluted plot, suffice it to say that Maya seems to have been killed during the NOMAD attack, and Taylor, who has gone to work cleaning up a highly radioactive Los Angeles, is approached by the military again, including Colonel Howell (Alison Janney), to return to New Asia to try to track down the "new, improved" weapon that turns out to be Alphie. The military hints that Maya may still be alive and that if Taylor joins the mission, he may be able to reunite with her. The upshot of all of this is that Taylor and Alphie end up on a "road trip" of sorts as they attempt to get to safety behind New Asia enemy lines. Here is another place where some kind of wobbly writing doesn't help matters, because if New Asia is a haven for simulants, why would Alphie need to be "hidden", so to speak, with Taylor making her wear a cap to hide her machine like rear "skull"?

There is of course a relationship that develops between Taylor and Alphie, all within the context of Taylor still trying to track down Maya. There are once again what I at least perceive to be deficits in the writing, logic and presentation of what supposedly occurs, and the implied parentage of Alphie probably only raises more questions than it supposedly answers. The conceit of breaking this story into veritable "chapters" with intertitle headings also was probably unnecessary. On the plus side, both Washington and (especially) Voyles are appealing, and the visuals are often astounding.

The Creator 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 disc in this package.

The Creator is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of 20th Century Studios and Disney / Buena Vista with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 2.76:1. Captured with a variety of cameras including some Sony models (kind of hilariously, I think this is the first IMDb technical specs page I've seen where a drone is listed first) and finished at 4K, this is, as mentioned above, often astounding from a visual perspective. I haven't always been fond of the appearance of "real" grain in 2160 when I've reviewed 4K UHD releases of 35mm material, but kind of ironically, the very heavy at times digital grain that attends this presentation actually struck me as rather organic looking. It definitely gives a textured, gritty appearance, especially against brighter backgrounds, but it never seemed inartfully done to me. Detail levels are often superb throughout the presentation, at times surprisingly so given some aggressive grading and frequent low light sequences. In terms of the grading, HDR really gives some additional luster to both the blue and orange-yellow tones that are exploited, and some of the outdoor material in various locations pops gorgeously. HDR also aids in several rather dimly lit scenes, offering at least marginal improvement in shadow detail.

The Creator 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Note: Per Disney's sometimes perplexing way of doing things, the 4K UHD and 1080 discs in this package sport different audio specs. The specs above are for the 4K UHD disc. See my The Creator Blu-ray review for the audio specs on the 1080 disc.

The Creator sports a really effective Dolby Atmos track. As I mentioned in the above linked 1080 review, scores can only "say" so much, and I actually gave top marks to the 1080 discs DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track, but this Atmos track takes all of the often striking immersive capabilities in that track and delivers some additional support for the many "vertical" sound effects, including everything from some of the frequent drone footage, to the NOMAD material, and especially in that regard to the many explosive devices that are catapulted straight down from the fortress. Ambient environmental effects are really well done, and some of the cacophonous urban material as well as the many shootouts and other explosions provide regular LFE and some fantastically enveloping sound effects. Hans Zimmer contributes another first rate score, one which has just hints of Asian sounds like gamelan. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional subtitles in many languages are available.

The Creator 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The 4K UHD disc in this package has no bonus content. The 1080 disc offers this sole supplement:

• True Love: Making The Creator (HD; 55:47) is a really interesting featurette which gets into the "road trip" Edwards and his crew took to scout locations, filming as they went. There's also some discussion of the blending of genres The Creator's creators hoped to create.

Additionally a digital copy is included and packaging features a slipcover.

The Creator 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Years ago on a rather long plane trip I was watching Conan O'Brien's old show on the in flight television and he did one of his "News from the Future" bits where he held a flashlight under his chin, campfire story style, and relayed various "prognostications". One was so funny, I literally burst out in incredibly loud laughter that startled everyone around me. That O'Brien comment was, "In the future, robots will replace humans in dull, repetitive tasks like washing dishes and marrying J. Lo". So I guess in the long run, A.I. isn't such a bad thing, right? Tongues in cheek notwithstanding, as my colleague Brian Orndorf mentioned in his review of the film, Edwards probably never quite "gets there" with this effort, and for me personally there were simply too many questions left unanswered to make the story really congeal. That said, I was frequently gobsmacked by the visuals, and the interplay between the quasi-father and daughter in this film gives it some unexpected heart. Technical merits are first rate, and with caveats noted, The Creator comes Recommended.