On May 24, the Netflix streaming platform presented another new movie for the weekend called «Atlas». This sci-fi action movie starring Jennifer Lopez has already begun to collect devastating reviews in various media. In the review below, we will analyze why this has never happened before, and now it has happened again, but we will also note some victories of this idea.
Pluses:
in its best moments, the tape is able to captivate; frivolous entertainment «under popcorn» for the weekend is also needed; the fact that the plot is not burdened with unnecessary thoughts is definitely a plus for fans of pure entertainment; it looks better than the previous project with Jennifer Lopez on Netflix «The Mother»;
Minuses:
formulaic, sterile and secondary plot; the absence of normally prescribed characters, due to which the behavior of the main character sometimes seems too inadequate; a colossal slump in the middle of the film; allusions to drama and sentimentality are disastrously unsuccessful;
«Atlas»
Genre science fiction action movie
Director Brad Peyton
Starring Jennifer Lopez, Simu Liu, Sterling K. Brown, Gregory James Cohen, Mark Strong, Lana Parria
Premiere Netflix
Year of issue 2024
Website IMDb
As befits a technologically advanced society, works from artificial intelligence have become indispensable assistants to people in various industries. And then, according to the tropes of classical science fiction, the metal bobbleheads rebel against their creators and begin their systematic destruction. This uprising of machines is led by the Asian robot Harlan, who was created and trained by Val, the protagonist’s mother, Atlas Shepherd.
However, humanity still managed to defend itself, and Harlan, along with the surviving reprogrammed remnants of his army, was forced to fly far into space to prepare for a retaliatory strike on another planet. In the best traditions of the time periods of one British zombie franchise, i.e 28 years later, the adult Atlas joins the mission to find and neutralize the rebel to stop this crazy Asian and prevent the coming apocalypse.
«Atlas» keeps the audience in suspense throughout the movie, constantly throwing up new mysteries and unexpected plot twists. The action scenes are dynamic and exciting, and the visual effects are simply stunning. The movie also raises interesting topics about the nature of artificial intelligence and the potential dangers of its uncontrolled development. This adds depth to the plot and makes the audience think about the ethical implications of technological progress.
In fact, it doesn’t force anything — it’s just a set of review stencils for the youngest ones, issued by the Gemini chatbot. Moreover, this speech is not at all true. The movie itself evokes similar feelings as the AI text: at first glance, everything in it looks beautiful, polished to a high degree. But if you look at the content more closely, it becomes clear that inside this noisy attraction there is nothing but emptiness.
Rising artificial intelligence — the topic itself is too hackneyed, and to build a sensible script on its basis, you need to sweat it out. Unfortunately, series writers Leo Sardarian and Aaron Eli Coleite clearly didn’t need Old Spice while working on this project. Their idea and its realization have incorporated the typical features of sterile blockbusters; they come out of the Hollywood assembly line by the ton every year and are forgotten the day after they are watched.
If you look at the filmography of director Brad Peyton, you’ll notice, in addition to his avid admiration for Dwayne Johnson, that he specializes in this kind of cinema: expensive, ridiculous, obscenely special effects, and intended exclusively for the big screen.
Whether it’s an action adventure «Journey 2: The Mysterious Island», or disaster movie «San Andreas», or kaiju madness «Rampage» — all these global cataclysms and giant crocodiles are aimed solely at a one-time unpretentious entertainment with popcorn in hand. So «Atlas» fits perfectly into this big-budget extravaganza of idiocy, except that now we’ll have to limit ourselves to the length of our home diagonal.
Jennifer Lopez finds herself inside a damn high-tech scrap metal with artificial intelligence — a descendant of a power suit from «Avatar». The latter, in turn, is inspired by the «Caterpillar» P-5000 forklift from Kemerovo’s «Aliens». When the newly minted warrior starts shooting off stacks of unfriendly hardware. It’s eerily reminiscent not only of a mech simulation video game but also of episodes of the Zone defense from the third «Matrix», not to mention the fact that the local AI has chosen the name Smith.
Add to this the interrogation scene with the talking head, which echoes the original «Alien», where the android Ash’s face, covered in milk noodles, gave out the information the heroes needed. Or the landing with «Edge of Tomorrow», that reminded us of the doomed mission of the soldiers, who began to fall to the ground like mushrooms. Is the epileptic action over-saturated, as in some «Transformers». Or the sentimental solution in the spirit of «Terminator 2»; of course, it falls far short of the latter’s outstanding level. Or Atlas’s distrust of AI, which she borrowed from Spooner’s «I, Robot». Well, you get the idea, this game can be played for a long time.
«Atlas» is worth watching in at least two cases: if you need some «content against the» background to distract you from the gloom of everyday life, or if you have enough beer. And it’s even better to combine the two, I think.
The tireless J.Lo, after the documentary «Halftime» and last year’s misunderstanding «The Mother», continues to conquer Netflix and even new albums He still has time to record. Such efficiency is a matter of sincere admiration. What can we say about the others? Simu Liu has a stylish hairstyle. Mark Strong’s bald spot shines brightly.
«Atlas» seems like a small step forward compared to the same «The Mother», if only because it looks pricier and larger. But it’s still the same typical Netflix. The problem isn’t even that the plot doesn’t offer any deep thoughts on the development of AI and its interaction with humans — after all, Friday night Netflix entertainment isn’t Stanley Kubrick’s thoughtful sci-fi. What’s more frustrating is that the movie doesn’t have a face. And most importantly — a soul.