Blog #38 Atlas Review

Action, Science Fiction Movie

Atlas 2024

Directed by Brad Peyton

Written by Leo Sardarian and Aron Eli Coleite

Starring:

Jennifer Lopez plays the lead role as Atlas Shepherd and also starred as Catherine Deane in The Cell 2000.²

Simu Liu- plays Harlan Shepherd (the villain). Mr. Liu also played Casey in Simulant 2023, and Shang-Chi in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 2021.⁴

Illustration 4 Sterling K. Brown in The Predator

Illustration 5 Mark Strong in John Carter movie

Sterling K. Brown- played Colonel Elias Banks; Mr. Brown also played N’Jobu in Black Panther 2018, Agent Will Traeger in The Predator 2018, Ray in Biosphere 2022, and Halk in Solar Opposites 2021-2022 in 10 episodes.⁵

Mark Strong stars as General Jake Boothe; Mr. Strong also played Matai Shang in John Carter 2012; Sinestro in Green Lantern 2011, Flinn in Babylon A.D. 2008, Septimus in Stardust 2007, Pinbacker in Sunshine 2007⁶, Emperor Javicco Corrino in series Dune Prophecy 2024 for 6 episodes⁷.

Distributed by: Netflix

Release date: May 24, 2024

Running Time: 120 minutes

Country: United States

Budget: $100 million

Reception: It was not well received by critics, but it was successful on Netflix, reaching the platform’s Top 10 list in 93 countries, including the number one spot in 71 countries.¹

Plot Jennifer Lopez plays Atlas Shepherd, a counterterrorism analyst who asks for and gets a place on the mission to kill the terrorist Harlan Shepherd. Harlan wants to wipe out most of humanity to ‘save them and the Earth.’ Atlas was raised with Harlan, a humanoid robot made and programmed by her mother. Atlas is considered nuts for not trusting A.I. but is brilliant at A.I. investigation, particularly in knowing Harlan. She goes on the mission, and all but the leader, Colonel Elias Banks, is killed before they land on the planet. Yep, she told them! Atlas is thrown into a mech (sort of like Pacific Rim but with a much smaller mechanical body). Now, Atlas must ride in the mech and connect with the A.I. called Smith, who runs the mech. The rest of the movie has Smith trying to get Atlas to trust him so that they can work better as a team. Atlas, Smith, and the Colonel form the team to take on Harlan.

Positives

It was fun! Jumping in the mech, arguing with the A.I., and outwitting the evil Harlan and his followers. The planet was cool, and the idea of you not being able to breathe the atmosphere was intriguing (it makes it a good hiding place for androids).

Negatives

Rodger Ebert said it had “dreary CGI and some clumsy set-pieces,” giving it 2 stars out of 4⁷. Mr. Ebert seemed to feel that the actress held up the film with cheesy lines (you know how I like cheesy) and a plot that goes off stealing from other films. WOW!

The villain’s character development is intriguing, as we see him embracing his role as the antagonist and justifying his actions in a unique way. However, his reasoning for his ‘we’re going to kill all humans’ stance feels weaker, making it difficult for us to sympathize with his ideas or actions.

Conclusions Audience scores were much higher, and Netflix has ranked number 1 in 71 countries. It might have borrowed from other film plots, but it wasn’t apparent to me, and I watch a lot of scifi. I found it original as a whole and a fun ride, and that’s all it needed to be. Often, critics analyze outside of what viewers are interested in.

Where to Watch Netflix

Sources

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_(2024_film)

2. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0209958/?ref_=ls_t_12

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulant_(film)

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simu_Liu

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterling_K._Brown

6. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0835016/

7. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10466872/

8. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/atlas-movie-review-2024

Images

1. Atlas in mech movie poster https://image-cdn.hypb.st/https://uk.hypebeast.com/files/2024/03/netflix-jennifer-lopez-atlas-teaser-trailer-simu-liu-sterling-k-brown-sci-fi-tw.jpg?w=1080&cbr=1&q=90&fit=max