“Netflix’s sci-fi action film Atlas scored some of the worst reviews of Jennifer Lopez’s career but it’s the number one movie on the streamer globally”.– MovieWeb.
Starring Jennifer Lopez, Atlas ranks top 2 movies on Netflix as of 1st of June, 2024, but from the reviews on the movie, viewers seem highly disappointed by the plot.
Synopsis of “Atlas”
Atlas, written and directed by Brad Peyton, focuses on artificial intelligence (AI) through the perspective of Atlas Shepherd (Lopez), an analyst who is not very confident in the technology.
Given that AI once declared war on humanity, Atlas’ mistrust is well-founded. Simu Liu’s AI robot Harlan, who had led a rebellion that claimed the lives of three million people two decades earlier, was leading that charge.
Eventually, military forces retaliated, forcing Harlan to escape the planet. He has since sent more robots back to Earth to carry on his conflict. Soon after, Atlas is sent on a mission to apprehend Harlan.
However, when things don’t go according to plan, the only thing she can trust to survive is the very AI they’re up against.
What Critics Had to Say on the Movie
Victoria Luxford, in her review for Cityam, remarks, “The cast is let down by a script that sounds like it was quickly spat out by an AI app. The story borrows heavily from sci-fi classics, but it’s as far from classic as you’ll ever find. With a reported budget of $100 million, one can only hope the star was paid well for this disaster”.
In his review of Atlas for Variety, Todd Gilchrist writes, “Atlas” is predictable, overlong and bland, the kind of experience it’s hard to get excited about when the star player seems to be perfunctorily running the bases”.
Universe Space Tech Magazine analyses the movie, from the plot to the characterisation, and it concludes that the whole idea of a war between AI and humans didn’t turn out well.
The magazine remarks, ” The idea around which the whole plot revolves is realised in the most ridiculous way possible. In general, the film is worth watching at least to see the exoskeleton robots. Otherwise, it gives the impression of something that was attempted to be created by greatly saving resources, especially intellectual ones.”
In his review for The Wrap, William Bibbiani is quick to criticise Atlas, noting, “Hidden somewhere beneath all the generic dialogue, embarrassing plot, mediocre action and oddly ineffective performances, there’s a good idea in Brad Peyton’s Atlas. It’s a shame the filmmakers never found it.”
Why the Reviews are so Bad
Analysing the reviews, it is obvious these critics are impressed with the idea of bringing awareness to the positive and negative parts of AI in the movie. But the storyline not being properly organised and the representation of AI and outer space components being very poor are where some of the problems come in.
Universe Space Tech Magazine states, “As for the actual space component of the movie, it’s absolutely terrible. The fact that not-so-cosmic-looking earthlings can move extremely fast for hundreds and thousands of light years is not explained”.
The magazine also describes the plot, which lasted almost two hours, as “too simple and ill-conceived”.
Adam Bentz, in his article for Screen Rant, explains that Atlas getting so many bad reviews and still topping the Netflix movie chart is a continuous trend for Jennifer Lopez, as her previous movie, The Mother, which was released in May 2023 was deemed disappointing by critics but was a massive hit on Netflix, and “Atlas” seems to be history repeating itself.
He also states, “While Atlas reviews once again recognise that Lopez makes an admirable effort to carry the movie’s immense scale, it is ultimately a sci-fi spectacle that collapses under the burden of its poorly written and superficial script. The bad reviews resulted in a 17% Rotten Tomatoes score from the critics, one of the worst scores of Lopez’s career”.
Read also: 10 Geeky Science Fiction Thrilling Movies.
