It’s always great to see directors go from strength to strength in the genre that they’re clearly never meant to leave. When Gareth Edwards arrived on the science fiction scene, he did so with a budget-friendly film of blockbuster scope in “Monsters,” which followed two strangers travelling across Mexico six years after an alien invasion had wrecked the world. His vision was given the chance to flourish in even more fantastical worlds when, four years later, he reintroduced the world to a Western version of “Godzilla” that acted as the introduction to what we now know as the MonsterVerse. He then set off to a galaxy far, far away in 2016 with the popular “Star Wars” spin-off, “Rogue One,” which, even with its reported lengthy reshoots, turned out to be a great watch.
By this point, Edwards had established himself as a master of dystopian worlds, and in 2023, he formed another one in his robot-ravaged realm with “The Creator,” starring “Tenet” star John David Washington, which is now available to stream on Netflix. Set in a future where the world has been ravaged by a war between humanity and the robots they built, a former soldier (Washington) learns that the machines have one last trick up their sleeves: a robot child wielding highly advanced artificial intelligence. While initially met with a rather muted reception, there’s no question that it still stands as Edwards most impressive work visually, putting on full display his ability to turn present-day normality into anything but.
Edwards’ history in visual effects makes a maser of sci-fi
Much like the robots in Edwards’ universe of “The Creator,” audiences really didn’t know what to do with a film that felt like a sun-kissed “Blade Runner” and “Apocalypse Now.” Earning 67% on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie was praised for its style but not its substance, which fans wanted to see more of. Thankfully, it didn’t stop the film from earning two Oscar nominations, including Best Visual Effects, which littered every frame from its grand battle sequences to its small personal moments. In doing so, this world of robots was remarkably fleshed out. No extra was spared, no brief, basic moment was left without a tech upgrade, giving it a futuristic tint that helped fortify the world Edwards had molded, and that comes from his history as a visual effects artist before becoming a director.
Speaking to Corridor Crew back in 2023, Edwards explained that “I’m really a visual effects person pretending to be a director.” Thankfully, it’s playing pretend that got him this far, and later into the beloved (albeit factually inaccurate) world of dinosaurs with “Jurassic World: Rebirth,” which, even with its faults, had some exceptional set pieces to add to a franchise. However, it’s in the worlds of his own making, like in “The Creator,” that are still worth taking a look at.
