Going into to The Creator, I had a few thoughts.  First, I was thankful it was out this weekend.  The other two films premiering were ones that I saw too many trailers for, and I feared I would be forced to watch them.  I am speaking of PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie and Saw X.  Remarkably, critics seem to be largely on-board with those two films, though I cannot imagine why.  For the former, I suspect that those involved had lost a bet, and that meant having to either be in it or say nice things about it.  With the latter, my only question is why?  Why do they keep making Saw films?  Why do people keep watching them?  Is humanity truly that sick that not only do we continue feeding into what is essentially torture porn, but to also have the critics laud it?  For all these reasons, I was glad that I could go see The Creator.  I may have ultimately been underwhelmed by it, but at least it is not PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie or Saw X.

The Creator has a Terminator-esque beginning, giving us the background on artificial intelligence (AI), and how robots with it had been integrating themselves into society.  If you know your Terminator lore, you can predict what happens next in The Creator.  AI is blamed for a nuclear strike that wipes out Los Angeles.  There is now war between man and machine, though this Earth is far less apocalyptic, with only Los Angeles suffering destruction.  The West, led by the United States, is leading the charge against all robots and “simulants,” automatons with human features.  Meanwhile, New Asia, which is a conglomeration of several Pacific Rim countries, are not only offering safe haven to these so-called enemies of humanity, but is continuing to research and push forward this science.  They have a leader, also referred to as a god, called Nirmata, who the West believes is developing a weapon that will win that side the war.  The West has their own powerful tool in this fight: an orbital, nuclear missile launching platform called the U.S.S. NOMAD, which patrols the skies looking for bases of operation used by the AI and simulants.  Now that you have the stage, this is when we meet Joshua Taylor (John David Washington), who is working undercover as a sergeant in the United States’ Army special forces to locate Nirmata.  You would not know it at first sight because he is in bed with his wife, Maya Fey (Gemma Chan), who is pregnant with their child.  About to ruin their marital bliss is an American strike team, with the U.S.S. NOMAD overhead.  They are given somewhat of a warning of this by Drew (Sturgill Simpson), a fellow American soldier and friend.  Joshua tries to call off the impending attack, telling them he had yet to find Nirmata.  He is ignored, and Maya, who learns of Joshua’s true identity, dies in the nuclear blast initiated by the U.S.S. NOMAD.  Five years pass and we see that Joshua has moved on with his life back in the United States, working to help clean up the mess made of Los Angeles.  After a day’s work, he is approached by General Andrews (Ralph Ineson) and Colonel Howell (Allison Janney).  They bring intelligence that the AI and simulants have completed their weapon, and that Maya is alive and a part of its development.  This information is used to lure Joshua back into the military, with Colonel Howell promising him that if he helps bring in the weapon and Nirmata, he will be free to find Maya and carry on with his wife.  The mission turns into a fiasco.  Most of the team is killed, except Colonel Howell, Joshua, and one other soldier.  Joshua is the one to find the weapon, though, and it turns out to be a young simulant, a little girl (Madeline Yuna Voyles).  He is ordered to destroy her, but she looks up at him innocently before another simulant helps her to escape.  Joshua gets out, too, but he is mainly concentrating on looking for Maya.  Because of their exchange, the girl follows Joshua in the resulting chaos, and eventually he names her Alphie after the words “Alpha-Omega” printed near the base of her skull.  Initially, Joshua sees her like any other machine, but she soon displays abilities not typical of other simulants, such as being able to manipulate mechanical devices with her mind.  She also has an innocence that humanizes her in his eyes.  Finally, she appears to know about Maya, which is why he keeps her near.  His search takes them to his old friend Drew, who is able to use the tracking device they implanted in Maya’s wedding ring.  This brings them to the house Joshua shared with Maya, but the AI forces are there waiting.  Also not present is Maya.  They take Alphie back into their custody, but because of the bond she has formed with Joshua, she frees him.  Upon doing so, Joshua learns that Maya had been Nirmata the entire time.  Further, Maya had created Alphie, imbuing the girl with her powers and developing a simulant unlike any other.  All the while, they are managing to stay just ahead of the American military and the U.S.S. NOMAD, with Colonel Howell doggedly pursuing them.  In the process, Alphie is wounded, and Joshua is told to bring her to Nirmata.  It is Maya in a coma, laying in state in a Buddhist temple in the Himalayas.  Joshua turns off the life support keeping her alive (ugh), but not before scanning her brain into a microchip.  Following this, he and Alphie are caught once more, and she is about to be executed.  Joshua prevents this, and together they make their way onto a moon bound shuttle.  This they hijack, and use it to dock with the U.S.S. NOMAD.  Using her electronic magic, Alphie is able to destroy this dangerous satellite to the delight of many on Earth.  Unfortunately, Joshua dies getting Alphie into an escape pod, but not before he is able to spend his last moments with a simulant version of Maya.

The Creator is okay, but I wanted a happier ending.  In other words, I wished Joshua and the simulant Maya could have found a different escape pod and gotten away from the U.S.S. NOMAD before it exploded and fell to the Earth.  This way, Alphie would not have to grow up as an orphan.  This thought tugged at my heart strings a little bit, but my desire for alternative events dampened the impact.  This is because what does take place strikes me as a plot hole.  There are several, actually.  Are there not other means of getting off the U.S.S. NOMAD?  Further, what prevents Joshua from joining Alphie is a stuck door on her module, though it opens without any trouble after she lands on earth.  A movie does not have to be perfect for me to enjoy it.  There are definitely titles out there that I like but others would be hard-pressed to understand why given their numerous flaws.  What can I say to this but taste?  My Catholic sensibilities do have a role in diminishing the pleasure I took from viewing this film.  Had there not been a few moments that made me cringe spiritually, I probably would have been more forgiving.  Yet, because of those elements, I noticed the problems more readily.

The most evident problem with The Creator is the title.  From watching the trailers, I made two assumptions on this matter.  First, I assumed it referred to Alphie.  Having watched it, I now attribute it to Maya.  This makes sense given that she is Nirmata, and it leads me to the second assumption.  “Nirmata” apparently means “God,” which should come as no surprise given the title.  I had hoped that they would not lean into a comparison with the Almighty, but they did so more than I expected, to my disappointment.  There is only one God, and it is not Maya.  Having the ability to make a new life, be it human or simulated, is a gift from God.  It does not make that person God.  What almost broke my Catholic heart, though, is when Joshua shut off the life support for Maya.  I have recently had a bit of an education on the Church’s teachings on end-of-life issues.  The key idea is the imminence of death.  This did not seem to be the case with Maya, she just needed some form of life support to stay alive.  The film tries to soften this blow by having her brain downloaded, but this act seems wasted to me.  The simulant Maya gets a few minutes to embrace Joshua before she is blown up.  Them having more time together would have made this small victory for life more satisfying.

Another fair question to ask a Catholic film reviewer about The Creator is the Church’s stance on AI.  There is not much to say about it regarding what you see in the film because that technology does not exist.  In our world, there is a real issue with what it means in terms of us flesh and blood people, and the Church has, and hopefully always will be, on the side of life.  For now, you can draw your own conclusions from watching a mediocre film like this one.