The Creator is one of the best sci-fi movies in years, according to critics

The Creator is a rare thing — a new sci-fi film not based on an existing series or property, and it’s actually really good.

Monsters and Rogue One director Gareth Edwards’s The Creator is about to hit cinemas, and is picking up some seriously impressive-sounding reviews from the critics.

The BBC’s Nicholas Barber says The Creator gives you “the feeling that you're seeing a rich vision of the future unlike any that has been on the big screen before,” and that it can provoke “intoxicating awe.” He gave the film a glowing 5-star review.

The Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey calls The Creator “an increasingly rare piece of mainstream cinema that proves CGI can be good for art when placed in the right hands,” citing how darn good the film looks, while noting that it can be a touch clunky in parts.

Peter Bradshaw from The Guardian says The Creator is a “vast and exhilarating” old-school sci-fi movie that “really does address – with both head and heart – the great issue of our age, AI.”

“The Creator makes you realise that there really is little excuse for blockbuster dross,” says Empire’s 4-star review.

Are all the critic responses as positive as these? No. The Creator does average out at 65 out of 100 over at Metacritic at present, and even some of the more up-for-it reviewers give the film, say, a 7/10.

However, The Creator has us hankering after the biggest silver screen in a 50-mile radius like few other films of recent times. And pretty much all the critics agree the film looks absolutely crackin’.

Here’s the funny part. The Creator cost just a fraction of the amount used to make your typical sci-fi blockbuster, and was reportedly shot primarily using a camera you can buy on the high street.

We’re talking about the Sony FX3. Sure, it costs around four grand, but it’s of a size and shape similar to the camera we use on the reg.

The Creator’s budget was reportedly $80 million, much less than the $220 million of Edwards’s Rogue One, and less than half the $165 million budget of Dune.

Gareth Edwards is of course a bit of a pro at weaving expensive-looking visuals without spending an absolute fortune. His first feature, 2010’s Monsters, looks great and was made for $500,000.

The Creator is out in cinemas from September 28.