Director: Brad Peyton
Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Simu Liu, Sterling K. Brown
In a bleak-sounding future, an A.I. soldier has determined that the only way to end war is to end humanity.
With rapid evolving technology there’s been a lot of talk about A.I. lately, and we see it quite a bit in movies, as well. ‘Atlas’ is yet another film exploring the A.I. gone wrong premise.
Artificial Intelligence (or A.I.) is designed to help humanity. Robots have been used for years in the manufacture industry and on assembly lines. Giving robots a human appearance and making them able to ‘think’ is simply the next step. The best early example of this was the computer HAL in ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’.
‘Atlas’ takes it a step further, with Harlan becoming the world’s first AI terrorist. After wreaking havoc, Harlan left Earth 28 years ago with a message that he will return to finish what he started. Analyst Atlas Shepherd (Jennifer Lopez) was just a child back then, and during the course of the film her involvement with Harlan is explained, and the reason why she blames herself for the death of over a million people. She therefore has a personal vendetta against Harlan.
When Harlan’s location is discovered in the Andromeda Galaxy, Atlas insists on going with on a mission to capture him. Unfortunately things does not go according to plan, and when they get shot down, she’s on a new mission: survival – her own and that of humanity.
We learn a lot from Atlas’ back story through her interaction with a robot named Smith, with whom she reluctantly synced. I rather enjoyed this set-up between her and Smith.
There’s plenty of action and adventure as they go on a mission to capture Harlan. A Secondary antagonist, Casca, is on their trail as well, on his own mission to destroy them. This visual effects laden fantasy adventure is entertaining with some thrilling sequences. The visual effects are really good. And who would have thought a goddamn robot could create an emotional moment!!!
I actually really enjoyed this movie, which was not well received by critics.
Would I watch it again? Yes.
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