Atlas Review - Human intelligence and artificial intelligence sync well in this explosive sci-fi action saga

Atlas, starring Jennifer Lopez, brings Brad Peyton back in action. One must realize that Jlo on stage is different, and Jlo on screen is different. The stage one will always be far superior, and the on-screen Jlo may not go well with many cine-viewers. Atlas is Peyton's version of Transformers and Avatar clashing with each other in an AI-driven futuristic universe. The disaster lover Peyton goes dystopian but brings more emotions and explosions alongside his regular mainstream tantrums of entertainment. Jlo fit well in the suit; I don't know how, and I did not even expect it, but it happened, and for our own good. Lopez immerses herself in the character, and despite that "you are looking old" taunt, she manages to look fit and somewhat sexy without any skin exposed. In short, Atlas makes a fairly entertaining watch for action-drama lovers who can digest some holy-smokin theories of a futuristic AI world.The film begins with Atlas Shepherd (Jennifer Lopez) waking up in an AI-driven world and speaking to even more superior software than Alexa. She is a brilliant but misanthropic data analyst with a deep distrust of artificial intelligence, which was caused by a painful trauma in her childhood. What's that? We get to know later, of course. Harlan (Simu Liu) is an AI robot who has been planning to wipe out humanity and bring new mankind into this world for years. Colonel Banks (Sterling K. Brown) is off to find him and destroy him, but he needs someone intelligent like Atlas to be with him. Atlas believes that she should be on this mission because she knows Harlan better than anybody else could and that he is smarter than any of them humans. She joins a mission to capture a renegade robot with whom she shares a mysterious past. When plans go awry, her only hope of saving the future of humanity from AI is to trust it and go in for 100% syncing.In exactly two hours, Atlas hardly has any larger-than-life theory in its storyline. It's simple, and in this case, that helps. You can't get too complicated with AI theories because that's totally fictional and might cause the audience to lose human connect. Atlas keeps things pacy and engaging, so you don't really want to move from your sofa. As expected, it gets a bit dramatic and cliched by the end, but not to the level of a headache. Shepherd's physical and emotional connect with Smith, the AI suit, is typically sorted, but you feel their bonding. The friendship is there, and we, as humans, can't hate that thing ever. It may remind you of Stephen Lang's colonel Miles from Cameron's Avatar (2009), with the only difference being that he was an antagonist, and here Shepherd is in the positive role.Jennifer Lopez has surprised me with her acting skills here. I guess many of you will agree with me when I say that her discography is much better than her filmography. Her singing and dancing skills are better than her acting skills. Despite being a firm believer in these two things, I liked her as an actor in this film. Now you can imagine the impact she has created here. Those emotionally tormenting scenes were too good. The neural sync with Smith was definitely amazing. I didn't fall for her hot figure and face, but her personality and tech-savvy conversations really won me over. Simu Liu made a perfect villain, but his screen space was too low. It happens with many non-human villains; they are deadly, but they can't be like humans. Sterling K. Brown played a fine colonel, and so did Mark Strong. Abraham Popoola's Casca Robo was fairly good, and Lana Parrilla did an excellent job in her small role.

Talking about action, Atlas isn't an upgraded flick or too modern about it, but it definitely has those traditional set pieces that you enjoy on any off day. I think they could have made the futuristic war weapons more dangerous and lethal rather than just using an ION bomb and fire shots. Simu's use of the Rings MCU looked far more futuristic than the sword he used here as a robot in the future world. Also, the film lacks some heavy punchlines. Maybe because there was no male protagonist. The macho stuff was missing; even though Smith added something of its own, it wasn't enough. The explosions were entertaining and pleasant. The production design and background score were okay. Atlas' camerawork doesn't offer anything new since it is set in an AI world; all we have are those same close-ups during fight sequences and top views of forests, robots, and fighter planes. Those who know Brad Peyton for Journey 2, San Andreas, and Rampage will get what they are looking for here. He just changed the world, not his ideas. He may be stuck to them, but that's fairly enough to pass your two hours on Netflix.