After delivering easily the best modern Star Wars movie, director Gareth Edwards went on to give us a truly underrated sci-fi action epic that flopped in theaters. However, three years after becoming a notorious flop, the sci-fi cult classic has found renewed success on Netflix, becoming one of the most-streamed movies in the world. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was a fresh take on the decades-old franchise, moving away from the Jedi to show the spies and soldiers in the Rebel Alliance fighting against the Empire. It was as close to an all-out war movie as Star Wars has come. Somehow, Edwards’ follow-up film was even more sci-fi-heavy and leaned in further to the war genre, and this is your sign to stream it while it’s on Netflix.
Seemingly out of nowhere, The Creator has made a comeback on the global streaming charts. The 2023 flop is currently streaming on Netflix, and it’s one of the most popular movies on the entire platform. At the time of writing, The Creator is the seventh most popular movie globally. Voicemails for Isabelle still holds the top spot. But the Top 10 features other great action movies, like No Time to Die and The Killer.
The Creator is certainly more of a war movie than a sci-fi film (but only just). In fact, it’s literally a Vietnam War movie with a sci-fi veneer. John David Washington stars as Joshua, an elite soldier in humanity’s war against sentient robots. When Joshua and his team are tasked with locating and disposing of a new, incredibly dangerous AI threat, Joshua goes rogue and protects the AI, which has taken the form of a human child. The movie also starred Allison Janney, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Ken Watanabe, Ralph Ineson, and Gemma Chan.
‘The Creator’ Shouldn’t Have Flopped at the Box Office
For years, people have been calling for Hollywood to make original sci-fi movies again, without endlessly milking cash cow franchises. Gareth Edwards did just that with The Creator and… nobody watched it. Against a budget of $80 million, the film grossed just $104 million, making it a major financial disappointment.
What’s more surprising is that the film wasn’t bad. It wasn’t fantastic, but it certainly wasn’t bad. The plot wasn’t anything mind-blowing, and in today’s age of AI taking over every industry, the film takes a surprisingly pro-AI stance. Imagine if Dances With Wolves or Avatar were written by a tech-bro. But despite that, the film is incredibly entertaining.
John David Washington always gives great performances, and The Creator is no exception. Then there’s the intense action and the worldbuilding that makes AI and the robots feel real and believable. But the most impressive part of The Creator is its CGI.
‘The Creator’ Is One of the Most Beautiful Movies of the Decade
Gareth Edwards is one of the few directors who know how to truly use CGI. Thanks to his background as a visual effects artist, Edwards orchestrates his shoots and constructs his shots with the CGI in mind. Rather than believing he can “fix it in post,” Edwards fixes things on the day so that the CGI can enhance the overall film, not cover up its shortcomings. It’s the same for all his movies. Rogue One and Godzilla are both breathtaking to look at, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has the best CGI in the modern franchise.
- Release Date
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September 29, 2023
- Runtime
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134 minutes
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
