Hollywood has been warning us about the dangers of A.I. for decades. Look to the Terminator franchise for the most famous example of that, of course. However, as A.I. tools work their way into the real-world film production chain, such that a good chunk of Netflix originals often feel like they were probably scripted by chatbots, does it really surprise anyone to learn that a even a new robot apocalypse movie like this year’s Atlas would ultimately be about a good A.I. trying to help its human friend work through her personal issues and come through the other side a better person for its help? To me, this seems almost as insidious as trying to nuke the planet. A.I. propaganda like this is how the bots really win.
I kid about that, but just a little bit. Atlas actually has two allegedly-human screenwriters on its credits, at least one of whom looks like he might be a real person based on his IMDb headshot and résumé. (The other one I’m not as sure about.)
In any case, what Atlas really amounts to is an attempted comeback project for star Jennifer Lopez, who’s been desperate to re-assert her pop culture relevance this year by releasing a new album with a bizarre feature-length music video to go with it, and now headlining this big-budget sci-fi action movie, all in the span of a few months. Will it work? As far as the movie goes, debuting on Netflix may not be a great sign.
| Title: | Atlas |
| Year of Release: | 2024 |
| Director: | Brad Peyton |
| Watched On: | Netflix |
It’s the future. The exact date isn’t specified, maybe a few hundred years from now. If not flying cars, precisely, rocket-powered shuttle things buzz all around city skylines. A.I. is everywhere, as you’d expect. However, an evil android named Harlan (is that supposed to be a backhanded reference to sci-fi author Harlan Ellison?) led a robot uprising and tried to exterminate humanity. After a turbulent war, he failed and was forced to flee the Earth, vowing to return and finish the job.
Twenty-eight years later, the International Coalition of Nations catches a break and discovers a clue to Harlan’s secret base on a planet in the Andromeda galaxy. The military quickly formulates a mission to take him out. Tagging along as an advisor will be Atlas Shepherd (Lopez), a counter-terrorism expert with a deep-rooted distrust and hatred of A.I. that even her superiors in the ICN think is a bit overboard. In fact, most of them consider her “rigid and hostile” behavior to be a damned nuisance. Mission leader Col. Banks (Sterling K. Brown) is especially skeptical of her involvement and feels that he has the situation well in hand without her help.
When Banks proudly shows off the latest advancement in cutting-edge battle technology – a fleet of mech armor combat suits outfitted with neural-link connections between the human pilots and A.I. operating systems – well, Atlas is frankly aghast at the idea of it. Nevertheless, when Harlan launches a sneak attack and knocks out the entire battle cruiser the moment it arrives, Atlas is thrown into one of those very mech suits just before being sucked out of the ship and plummeting down to the planet below. She’s barely able to pilot it enough to avoid splattering on the ground or getting picked off by Harlan’s evil robot army, but isn’t a soldier and has no idea how to fight. The suit’s A.I., which introduces itself as Smith (Gregory James Cohan), attempts to help, but she stubbornly refuses to neural-link with it, no matter how dire the situation around her gets.
The rest of the movie from this point then becomes about Atlas’ quest for survival on hostile terrain, as she tries to make her way to a rescue pod before her suit’s fusion battery runs out. To do that, she has to grudgingly set aside her prejudices and bond with an A.I. even as others of its kind hunt her down to kill her. Unsurprisingly, at a certain point she’ll have to do the neural-link, and completing it will require that Atlas reveal the secret connection between herself and Harlan (Simu Liu). Only by having that emotional breakthrough can Atlas fully sync with her new A.I. friend and achieve her ultimate potential.
With all that plot recapping out of the way (and I concede that I probably spent too much time on it), Atlas the movie largely turns into a one-woman-show for Jennifer Lopez in a similar manner to how Gravity did for Sandra Bullock. The actress spends the majority of her screen time locked inside the cocoon of her mech suit, emoting away in tight close-ups while the visual effects team fills in everything else around her. The big difference is that Bullock (mostly) only had herself to talk to, and not much her character could physically interact with, whereas Lopez has a disembodied voice for a screen partner, and Atlas is a big action movie with lot of kick-ass stunts and shooting and explosions.
Jennifer Lopez can be divisive, both as a media personality and an actress. I don’t personally have anything against her, though I doubt she’s going to be nominated for any major acting awards for this role. The character is a little too abrasive, her performance a little too histrionic, and the movie itself not the sort of thing anyone would ever consider for awards attention.
Atlas does exactly what the trailer promises it will. The movie is big and loud, and has plentiful visual effects that mostly look pretty good, even if a few here or there may be a touch dodgy. The character interaction between Atlas herself and Smith is fairly amusing, as the A.I. gradually grows more profane and sarcastic while adapting to her personality. On the other hand, the plot is thin and story logic frequently lacking. (For one thing, would human-like android bodies really be the most efficient form for an army of evil A.I. to take?) Even as the main antagonist, Simu Liu is barely in the picture at all, and when he finally shows up at the end, a good chunk of the climax is wasted on a goofy kung-fu fight where his face is digitally pasted onto a CGI body double.
As directed by Brad Peyton (San Andreas, Rampage), the film is a very expensive and polished and well put-together piece of utterly silly and disposable sci-fi claptrap. I expect that, like most Netflix originals, the streamer will declare huge viewership numbers for the premiere weekend, after which everyone will immediately forget the entire thing ever existed.
Video Streaming
Atlas debuted on Netflix this past Friday, May 24, 2024. The film streams in 4K HDR at an aspect ratio of 2.39:1. As a modern all-digital production, the movie has very sharp and slick photography and visual effects without a touch of grain. Detail and texture are fine for streaming, if not necessarily the most impressive I’ve ever seen. Colors and contrast are likewise good, but the HDR grade looks strangely subdued on my screen, even during moments (like fire, explosions, or Harlan’s glowing sword) that feel like they should pop more.
The Dolby Atmos soundtrack has nice breadth and plenty of slam-bang bass action. Gunfire hits with a satisfying thump, and explosions can rock the room. The surround and overhead speakers also get plenty of usage with effects whooshing all around the soundstage, especially during the chaotic attack on the ICN ship as it arrives at planet GR-39.
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- Sterling K. Brown
The Video File Blog 
I watched this yesterday evening and thought it was pretty decent. I had no idea of its existence until I read this post. There were some strong Edge of Tomorrow vibes when she’s falling into the planet in the mech suit. J-Lo was serviceable but an actor with better chops could’ve sold this a little better. If this were to get a physical release UHD release, I’d add it to my collection.
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