The Creator

Director: Gareth Edwards
Starring: John David Washington, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Gemma Chan, Allison Janney, Ken Watanabe, Sturgill Simpson, Marc Menchaca, Ralph Ineson, Michael Esper, Veronica Ngo
Running Time: 133 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

2016's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was notable for being one of the few Disney-era installments of that franchise to receive near unanimous praise, pleasing even the crankiest hardcore fans. Despite a troubled production, director Gareth Edwards emerged as the only recent filmmaker to survive the thankless task of helming a Star Wars movie, earning a certain degree of respect for his efforts as the studio's hired hand. Rogue One isn't perfect, but it's better than most, rightly credited for providing the template for Disney's two best small screen follow-ups in The Mandalorian and Andor. 

Now with The Creator, Edwards proves his previous success wasn't merely a fluke. Partially freed from those creative constraints, what he delivers isn't much of a deviation from Star Wars, minus that franchise's considerable baggage. And even if the script he co-writes with Chris Weitz doesn't cover any new ground in the genre, his gift of visual spectacle and world building remains an outlier. That's the main draw, eclipsing a sufficient, if overcooked plot filled to the brim with sci-fi tropes that tidily converge by the end. But there are plenty of thrills to be found along the way, supplied mostly by glimpses into a future that looks and feels more authentic than its many CG-heavy counterparts.

In 2065, an AI-detonated nuclear warhead decimates much of Los Angeles, sparking a war between Western nations trying to prevent humanity's extinction and Asian countries embracing Artificial Intelligence. With the U.S. military utilizing the NOMAD (North American Orbital Mobile Aerospace Defense) space station to launch missile attacks from orbit, they've set their sights on locating mysterious AI architect "Nirmata." But when Army sergeant Joshua Taylor (John David Washington) and his pregnant wife Maya's (Gemma Chan) home is raided during a missile strike, she discovers he's been working undercover.

It's five years later and Joshua is recruited by General Andrews (Ralph Ineson) and Colonel Howell (Allison Janney) to destroy "Alpha O," a new Nirmata-engineered weapon created to destroy NOMAD and win the war. But this weapon is actually a robotic sim of a young girl (Madeleine Yuna Voyles), who Joshua disobeys direct orders to kill, instead taking her on the run. Faced with either handing "Alfie" over or risking greater destruction to humanity, his choice is more personally conflicting than it appears, wedging him between two sides fighting for survival.

That none of this plays as an AI warning ad is both the film's biggest strength and weakness,  acknowledging the technology's perils, but framing its supporters as oppressed victims. This dichotomy is present from the opening raid, with Joshua's loyalty to Maya and their unborn child far exceeding his government pledge. And once we see the tragic result of the strike, his stance is even clearer, calling into question just how responsible Nirmata really is for these nuclear atrocities. Because of this, viewers are put in the position of potentially rooting for AI in their battle against humans, which might be the script's strangest feature. Given recent controversies, it's certainly a choice.  

The story's softened by the bond between Joshua and little Alfie, who share the same sort of father-child relationship present with Mando and Grogu in The Mandalorian or Obi-Wan and young Leia in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Add in elements of Steven Spielberg's E.T. and A.I. and you get a pretty good idea what this is. And though we've seen it before, it's still the most effective aspect of an admittedly convoluted screenplay, with philosophical ruminations on her existence still welcome in the midst of a sleek action vehicle. Those pieces mix especially well in the last act due to the performances, Edwards' direction and Greig Fraser and Oren Soffer's cinematography, all of which help cultivate an atmosphere we're more than willing to buy into.

Even John David Washington's loudest detractors would admit his cool, collected low-key approach helps him in this, especially as the mysterious little girl breaks down Joshua's barriers. And newcomer Madeleine Yuna Voyles holds up her end as Alfie, whose ability to remotely control technology conjures up valid comparisons to "The Force." Allison Janney and Ken Watanabe excel in smaller roles, keeping their characters' intentions consistent even as our perceptions of them evolve.  

It would be easy to mistake this for another Star Wars entry or Blade Runner sequel, as so much of its content supports the assumption. But Disney execs could still stand to take a few notes on the execution, particularly when it comes to the flawless VFX that subtly raise the material a level higher than you'd expect. The Creator may not be bursting with originality, but that does little to compromise the overall vision. Its lack of flashiness is its biggest asset, leaving us with the tantalizing promise that Edwards's best work lies ahead.                 

Inception

 

Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine, Dileep Rao, Pete Postlethwaite, Lukas Haas
Running Time: 148 min.
Rating: PG-13  

★★★★ (out of ★★★★)

In Inception writer/director Christopher Nolan presents ideas so intriguing it seems almost impossible for him to completely deliver on them. Yet somehow he mostly does. When you arrive late to a hyped-up film after everyone has already seen and discussed it, spoilers are practically unavoidable (as are certain expectations) but now after finally viewing it, I'm confused as to what could even be spoiled. Anyone who hasn't seen it likely wouldn't understand what you were trying to tell them anyway. It's not so much that the plot is hard to follow, but rather it's just a lot to process at once and the undivided attention required nearly mandates a second viewing. That's not something audiences like hearing, but in this case it's really true.  Once you get past that it's pretty cut and dry and even the much-debated final scene isn't really all that debatable. If you think about it, how else could it end? The fun in watching and re-watching Inception is to admire the ways Nolan puts all the puzzle pieces in place for us to arrive there. While it goes without saying this is a meticulously crafted science fiction think piece on every level, I still can't help but think Nolan again falls slightly short of delivering an all-out masterpiece. But that's probably just me being greedy. This is about as close as it gets.

The story, every bit as ambitious as you've heard, centers around Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), a dream extraction specialist who with the help of his right-hand man, Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) enters the unconscious minds of his targets while they're asleep, invading their dreams and extracting valuable information for his corporate clients. Unfortunately many of Cobb's recent missions have failed, as the painful memory of his late wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard) infiltrates all his dreams, haunting him in the form of a subconscious projection. His only chance to return home" to the U.S. and reunite with his children comes in the form of an offer from Japanese businessman Saito (Ken Watanabe) who wants Cobb to deliver the near-impossible in "inception," or the planting of an idea in someone's dreams. The mark is Robert Fischer, Jr. (Cillian Murphy) and the objective is to subconsciously give him the idea of breaking up his terminally ill father's (Pete Postlethwaite) energy empire. To do this he assembles a team to join him, Arthur and Saito consisting of dream architect Ariadne (Ellen Page), expert "forger" Eames (Tom Hardy) who can impersonate anyone in a dream and sedation specialist Yusef (Dileep Rao). The latter must determine the best method to put everyone under long enough to travel an unprecedented three levels deep (a dream within a dream within a dream) to perform the inception and then somehow safely bring them back. Of course, complications arise.    

The best scenes in Inception come early when we're teased with all the excitement and potential possibilities the central concept has to offer and learn the very specific rules of the world the characters inhabit, which reflect our own preconceived notions and questions about dreaming. How do you come out of it? How do you KNOW you're out of it? Or in your own and not someone else's? How much time passes? What if you free fall? What if you die? The answers aren't what you'd expect and that second question is the foundation on which the film is built. And that isn't even to speak of the idea of planting a concept in someone's subconscious and all the potential ramifications of that, which are explored, shown and discussed in intricate detail, amazingly without ever slowing the narrative of the plot. How "the smallest seed of an idea can grow" in the mind is really the genesis for the entire story and Cobb's tortured, complex relationship with his late wife Mal is where the film gets its emotional and intellectual kick. As many have already pointed out, this main sub-plot bares much more than a striking similarity to another DiCaprio thriller from this past year, Shutter Island. Exactly how I can't reveal but even knowing a lot going in I was still surprised just how many details the two stories had in common.

Despite featuring one of the most talented ensemble casts in years, this isn't an actor's showcase, but rather an idea showcase where the actors fill certain utility roles that drive the story. No single performer runs away with the film as Heath Ledger did in The Dark Knight. That opportunity just doesn't exist in something this plot driven, but if I had to choose, DiCaprio and Cotillard come the closest to doing it, since they have the deepest, most complex roles, and in the case of DiCaprio, the most important. He's probably given better performances but I can't ever remember him seeming as in command on screen as he is here, as Cobb alternates between leading fearlessly and completely losing his grip on reality. It would be a shame if this performance and the one he gave in Shutter Island cancel each other out in the minds of some because of their similarities since they're actually very different. DiCaprio is so consistent in a non-showy way in everything that many probably take for granted just how good an actor he can be. The memorably haunting Cotillard has the even the tougher role since scene-by-scene she has to adjust and act in whatever way the protagonist chooses to view her. Her character's essentially a fake projection, but she has to play her real.

Of the other supporting players, Joseph-Gordon Levitt (in maybe his highest profile role to date) was an inspired choice to play Cobb's point man since the actor always kind of seemed like a younger version of DiCaprio in terms of his acting style so watching them work onscreen together for the first time is fascinating. Unsurprisingly, JGL skillfully fleshes out what could have easily been a forgettable role in the hands of a lesser performer, and excels at intelligibly delivering a lot of expository dialogue. Some will undoubtedly criticize the casting of Ellen Page (whose contribution was about a thousand times larger than I expected) but for a change it's nice to see her playing a character who doesn't just think she's smart, but actually is. As our entry point into the story, she shares the film's most memorable sequence (the awe inspiring street folding scene), which serves as a lesson in dream building for her and a primer on the film's concepts for us. Tom Hardy has a smaller role as the forger but brings a lot to it, adding his quick wit and dry humor at unexpected moments. The always reliable Michael Caine has what amounts to little more than a cameo as Cobb's father-in-law and plays it as only he can while Tom Berenger (!) effectively fills the Eric Roberts "WTF is HE doing here?" spot as a sleazy business executive.

On an initial viewing the main job of Cobb's team seems like some of the same organized crime filler Nolan discarded bigger ideas for in The Dark Knight but a second, closer look reveals the corporate espionage plot to be an important cog in the machine that powers the entire plot and its themes. There's tons of action (my favorite: the third act Ice Station Zebra-inspired snow fortress shootout) but the script does an excellent job of always making it feel like there's something at stake despite all of this action taking place in a dream world. There are real world consequences to everything these characters do and we feel the weight of them throughout. This isn't in any way comparable to garbage like The Matrix which used its "ideas" as an excuse to pummel the audience with cutting-edge technology. Here's a screenplay that's actually about what it purports to be about all the way through and when CGI is used sparingly, it's for the right reasons, calling attention only to the story unfolding in front of us (the now infamous zero gravity hotel corridor scene being the best example).

The potential connection between our dreams, reality and existence (and where each begins and ends) is the driving force that propels the psychological journey of the film's tortured protagonist, as well as our own fascination with the entire concept of dreaming. The is one of the few science fiction screenplays where it actually seems as if a fair amount of of actual research was required to write it and it's a high compliment to Nolan that he bothers to invest a premise this fanciful with realistic, concrete details. It's becomes a completely different film on a second viewing and may just play differently each succeeding time after.  It's also tighter edited, more focused and considerably less sloppy than The Dark Knight was. In a genre where it's often easier to copy then create, Nolan creates. Any way you choose to spin it, Inception is a huge achievement likely to loom larger each time you watch.