Atlas is a sci-fi action Netflix film directed by Brad Peyton and co-produced by Jennifer Lopez. It is based on a script by Leo Sardarian and Aron Eli Coleite.

Twenty-eight years after a rogue AI named Harlan (Simu Liu), his creator’s daughter Atlas (Jennifer Lopez) is now a system analyst for the Earth military ICN. After capturing the android Casca Decius (Abraham Popoola), Atlas learns that Harlan has escaped to the Andromeda galaxy. General Jake Boothe (Mark Strong) assigns her to go there with Colonel Elias Banks (Sterling K. Brown). When they arrive, Harlan attacks their vessel and Atlas is forced to enter a mech-suit powered by an AI called Smith. The two have to work together before Harlan uses a stolen bomb against Earth.

While I am prepared to admit that this movie is better than most of the slop that comes from Netflix, it is still a derivative, predictable, and, quite frankly, boring movie. It is no wonder Jenny from the Block, whose production company had a hand in this film, could not get a major studio to distribute it.

Speaking of Jenny from the Block, how does an actress get worse over time? In the nineties and early 2000s, she was not totally amazing, but competent and at least believable. It could have been the directing, but she was downright terrible here and it is the same for several movies over the past few years. All of her emotions felt forced, especially when she was pretending to be sad. Also, the delivery of her lines was painful to watch. I cringed when she was bantering with Smith, no matter the conversation.

While Simu Liu is a decent actor, I feel like he was given poor direction here. He does not come off as intimidating and frightening in the least. Also, his power level was poorly defined and was covered in plot armor where he had an ability that was needed for whatever he had to do in the moment.

I genuinely feel bad for Mark Strong and Sterling L. Brown. They should fire their agents for getting them in this movie. They were two giants among the cast and you could tell that they were struggling in scenes with their co-stars.

As for the plot, oof. It was a mix of The Matrix, The Terminator, and Transformers, so if you are familiar with those franchises, you have seen this one. Rogue AI that tries to wipe out humanity? Check. Sentient robots with delusions of grandeur? Check. The debate is over whether or not a man-made machine has a soul? Check. Androids that betray their creator? Check. A sassy mech suit? Check.

There is also little explanation for the world-building. Humans apparently have achieved faster-than-light speed and planetary force fields, yet have trouble hacking a robot to determine if Harlan is setting up a trap? It just makes no sense. They also can take out an android with an energy blast, but they send in human soldiers to die at his hands before they set it off. What? Why did they have to die? It came off as very lazy.

Bottom line, Atlas is a boring copycat of previous movies with a star that seems far out of her element.

PARENTAL CONCERNS: Action violence, Some strong foul language

FAVORITE QUOTE: You must prepare for combat.

Check out the trailer below:

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