Atlas

The writers latch onto a current concern: what happens if AI develops to a point where it decides it's time for us to go and it's bye-bye humanity. The special effects are good and I like imaginings of what the future will look like and what I will miss out on, unless maganuts destroy everything first.

I assume most who decided to watch Atlas did so because they like a good sci-fi space opera and wanted to see how Jenny from the block is holding up.

There isn't a lot new here as plot goes: madman (mad robot, same thing) is determined to kill everyone except for a few chosen; heroine is off to stop him. And plot twist (not really), heroine finds soul mate.

The film is pretty much a one woman show as Ms. Lopez is on camera 100 per cent of the time. As she has to work in a confined space for much of the film, acting as such is how well Ms. Lopez can use her voice to create mood and sense of urgency. Basically a decent pop corn flic.

Brad Peyton seems to be another one of these directors that Hollywood keeps throwing money at for mediocre formulaic movies, almost certainly written with AI now, trading on big star names & flashy soulless CGI. Jennifer Lopez is still just an average actor I hate to say, propped up by better actors around her. Using AI as a plot device has already been done so much better in movies since the 80's, but is now mostly just boring. It's easy to see all the movies Peyton is trying to pay homage to, but it's usually in the laziest way possible. The excessive time of Lopez alone in her mech suit, clearly just hours of her, green screen, & the director trying to come up with remotely interesting dialogue, is truly a test of endurance to watch. This movie will be forgotten within months.

I kept asking myself throughout the movie wether Jennifer Lopes character was adapted for her or if Jennifer Lopes adapted to the character.

The story is that there is a war between humanity and a rogue AI. We get to follow Jennifer Lopes character attempting to destroy the rogue AI.

There is a lot of dialogue between what is portraited as the good AI and Jennifer Lopes character and this is where the problem happen in my opinion. Her character is so immature, entitled and emotional that it ruins the movie. This is because it isnt believable that someone of high intellect would act like that and its just annoyying to watch.

The dialogue between Jennifer Lopes character and the good AI also seems like an advertisement for AI because the movie is portraiting the good AI as a loyal human friend.

The best part of the movie is Mark Strongs acting and character. He has a small role but does it well.

The CGI is great and camera, music and sound is just fine. So you will experience some nice sci fi watching this.

6/10 For the CGI.

It's a miss. And Jennifer Lopez is not the main culprit.

The story is a bad toned-down rehash of Infinity war. Thanos was much more interesting there than that new Malthusian nemesis here. And the whole arc is boringly predictable.

The dialogues are often cheesy and almost always cringeworthy.

Jennifer Lopez has been better. She's trying to do her job professionally but her performance is soulless.

The CGI are good.

I haven't checked the budget but it's obviously way too much.

It's ok to watch on a rainy day.

As a side thought, Netflix looks really lost. They are wasting indecent amounts of money in mediocre movies and series and stop their more creative productions before their end. Headless chickens at the helm. That looks a lot like finance people have too much of a say. But I guess that won't change as long as their subscription tricks get them so much cash.

Seeing Atlas starring Jennifer Lopez pop up on Netflix doesn't necessarily leave you with a lot of hope that it's going to be a good movie, but I surprisingly liked it much more than I expected.

It may not start off particularly strong, but it gets going and I feel Jennifer Lopez did a better job acting than I expected, and I do remember her doing fairly well at times, like in Out of Sight.

Anyway, it really gets going after about 20-30 minutes, and the action is very well done in my opinion and fun to watch. Think Halo but even more action at it's best. She doesn't trust AI but slowly learns to trust the AI she is forced to work with and develops a bond that grows throughout, and I enjoyed that.

I think many Netflix movies get unfairly rated poorly and of course anything starring JLo will as well. As usual, it wouldn't surprise me if the very low ratings came from people who didn't even watch it. I really don't feel if I was going to give something a 4 or lower, I would even continuing watching it and didn't feel I could give a fair review (unless I was in a theater with friends or family and had to sit through a movie I hated).

Anyway, if you like action and sci fi, and go in for some fun not expecting some masterpiece, I think you will definitely be entertained.