Mikes Film Talk

Atlas with Jennifer Lopez has shades of other, better films. Borrowing from Science Fiction films like The Terminator and Avatar, even, to some degree; Aliens. Evil AI is nothing new, turning up in Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 production 2001: A Space Odyssey in the guise of HAL. A self destructive AI determined to survive at any cost.

Nope. Nothing new here.

The Story

AI rebels killing millions. The AI saviour, Harlan, played by Simu Liu, flees human justice. Agent Atlas Shepard, Jennifer Lopez is called to help find the terroristic robot. Initially to destroy the threat, then to recover it. (Alien.)

Shades

Sadly, this covers nothing new. There are even shades of Demolition Man and The Fifth Element cropping up here. Talking dispensers, a controlling hierarchy that limits personal choices; both the above mentioned films.

At the start of the film, Shepard faces a hostile military unit during her briefing; Aliens.

The ARCs? First glimpsed in Aliens and then Avatar. There are even glimpses of Edge of Tomorrow. Science fiction should be original or at least limit the copying of earlier projects. It is okay to take an earlier idea and improve on it, or present it in a different direction. But when you take, borrow, or steal from previous work and add nothing to it, you underestimate the audience.

Leader of the pack

aka: I am woman hear me roar

Lopez give us her best, “I am in charge here,” performance. The character she portrays is something of a genius. Atlas is, perhaps, humanity’s last hope. This has all been done before. *Side note: Even the robotic interface in her ARC sounds familiar. The voice is very similar to the talking car in The Knight Rider circa the early ’80s.

It is nice to see a film that offers up a female as the strongest character in an action oriented film . However, it would have been nice to have one with more than two dimensions.

Predictable

Atlas is predictable. In terms of viewing? Mark Strong, predictably, looks bored in his cameo. Everyone in the cast seem to be trying to breathe life into this Science fiction bore. This is, however, futile. *Kudos to Sterling K. Brown for his portrayal as the most realistic character in the film.

Verdict

Atlas earns a sad 2.5 stars out of 5. If there is literally nothing else to watch, feel free to tune in and doze off. Check out the trailer below or head over to Netflix and watch the film.