Even High-Octane Action Can’t Save Netflix’s Atlas

In a world where everyone uses A.I. in their daily life, Atlas Shepherd (Jennifer Lopez) has a deep distrust for the new technology. When Harlan (Simu Liu), an A.I. terrorist, wreaks havoc among humanity, Shepherd signs onto a mission to take him down once and for all in Atlas. 

While I love an exploration of the relationships between humans and technology, Atlas just doesn’t quite get there. In fact, Shepherd even admits that she doesn’t have a hate for A.I, just people because they disappoint. She even learns to like her A.I. robot. This revelation just seems predictable and cheesy which doesn’t resonate with me. I actually preferred the deeper story of how Atlas was somewhat responsible for Harlan’s shifted mindset on humanity. When Harlan gets Atlas to sync an ear piece, he then has access to her thoughts, much of which contained flowers and animals, but also jarring photos of pollution and war. This sends a switch to Harlan to terrorize humanity in a manifesto that humans will eventually destroy themselves. I really enjoyed that sort of approach more than the A.I. plot.

I do think that the twists in the story were interesting to learn such as Atlas’ mother being the creator of Harlan and Atlas having a hand in his switch. Both of these details were left out of any of the promos and trailers which was a good decision as I feel trailers tend to reveal their twists so you end up being a bit underwhelmed. I was begging for Harlan’s backstory as the film opens with a cinematic terrorist takedown scene and jumps to 28 years later. You do have to wait towards the middle to get the full picture of why Atlas is so determined to end Harlan and her relationship with A.I., but when you do, everything clicks. I found myself thrilled to see how it all was going to play out and surprisingly satisfied at the high-octane action scenes that bring a Transformers feel to it. 

My biggest issue with Atlas is not only with a predictable plot, but with the over exaggerated acting and dismissal of secondary characters. There’s a few moments where Lopez’s character gets a bit too dramatic, even in the slower paced scenes. In those moments, it just didn’t feel relatable and authentic. Another pitfall is that Sterling K. Brown and Mark Strong’s characters did not feel fleshed out enough. They may not be the focus of the film, but I wanted to know more about them, especially General Boothe's desire to not desert Shepherd. I also think Abraham Popoola who plays another rogue robot Casca wasn’t talked about enough either. Other than Harlan being able to duplicate him, we don’t know a lot about his origin and his history with Atlas. It left me wondering about how they ended up in the situation they are in. With questions left unanswered, Atlas falls flat in emotional execution, character development, and world building. 

While the cinematography, mech suit design, visual effects, and sound quality preserve the gripping thriller, Atlas could have done so much more digging into characters, its themes, and its story. The humor sometimes felt unnecessary and juvenile as the action and suspense was enough to keep you engaged. However, the overall message about how something created for humanity’s benefit, in this case A.I., can slowly turn into humanity’s biggest threat is a deeply resonate issue in today’s world. 

Atlas is now streaming on Netflix.