The Creator (6/10 stars)

“Taylor” The Creator

I’m all here for the Rogue One aesthetics: the bionic robotics, the laser-guided weaponries, the advanced vehicles, the cyberpunk architectures, the inventive gadgets, and so much more that flesh out this Star-Wars-esque, Blade-Runner-ish, but Southeast-Asian world. The presence of such a setting is quite convincing, as the interactions of humans, robots, and gargantuan machines look extremely realistic unlike the obvious use of green screens and photoshopping in The Flash. However, I’m disappointed to say that the visual is the only positive of this movie.Despite its futuristic cast, The Creator abides by the book of an elementary road movie and has a rather cliche plot: an adult’s salvation and a child’s maturation. And yet, the film is excessively expressive, including AI humanity, superpower dominion, mass-destruction weapon, revolution, reflection of the Vietnam War, and more. Further challenging the feeble storyline is the fumbling narrative -- disorderly events, chaotic pacing, and frankly, perplexing directing. That’s not the end of the list: performance (except the little girl) across the board is flavorless, as I am never immersed into any of the emotional scenes.Cool on the outside, raw within.