Atlas is bad on every conceivable level. The writing is hackneyed, the cinematography is soulless, and the acting (save for a few) is one-dimensional. Only Jennifer Lopez and Sterling K. Brown are turning in serious performances, but somehow that makes the film worse, not better, because of how mismatched the energy is. If the acting wasn’t so serious, then Atlas could probably pass as camp—so bad and corny that it actually becomes fun to watch. If that’s the kind of film you’re looking for, then by all means, put on this Netflix film. But if you’re looking for genuine sci-fi fare, films with something meaningful and enlightening to say about the scary future of AI, then I suggest you look elsewhere.
Synopsis
A brilliant counterterrorism analyst with a deep distrust of AI discovers it might be her only hope when a mission to capture a renegade robot goes awry.
Storyline
In the future, top tech analyst Atlas Shepard (Jennifer Lopez) makes it her life mission to put an end to the rogue AI robots who plan on wiping out the human race.
TLDR
This is the most unserious film I’ve seen in a while.
What stands out
For a dystopian film about AI, the tech renderings are surprisingly and hilariously derivative. The holographic screens are giving Iron Man, while the voice command tech is straight out of Back to the Future II, no one can convince me otherwise.
