Film Shapes

This is Gareth Edwards' first film since the fantastic Rogue One in 2016 and it's certainly an ambitious prospect. If you can imagine a sliding scale of sci-fi quality with  Blade Runner  at one end and  Elysium  at the other, then  The Creator  would shuttle between the two, eventually landing closer to the former. There are aspects that feel familiar - some moments are a bit  Avatar -ish, specifically when Allison Janney's Colonel Howell is on screen - but there's a lot that feels fresh, too.  It starts with a great premise - Artificial Intelligence has been steadily developing until around 2050, when a nuclear warhead is detonated in Los Angeles, prompting the 'Western world' to ban AI. Other regions, such as New Asia, don't accept or enforce a similar ban, forcing the US into a war, nominally against the AI and those who create or harbour them (no mention of 'New Africa' or New Oceania' or other such entities). The infiltration and jungle wa...