Atlas

3 outta 5

Atlas is a film that owes so much to James Cameron’s sci-fi films of Aliens, Avatar and Terminator that he should have probably gotten a “Based On” credit. Star Jennifer Lopez has a resume that is particularly heavy on romantic films, where the isolated lead has to learn to connect with their significant other to become a fuller person, that also happens here as well. It’s just that in this case the connection is with a disembodied AI that drives a giant mech suit. This is not the most original sci-fi movie as the component pieces it is cobbled together from are clearly visible, but it is okay sci-fi that has a few that are effective. Not great, but effective.

In the future, a sinister robot artificial intelligence named Harlan (Simu Liu) led an apocalyptic revolution against humanity and escaped to another solar system. Decades later, analyst Atlas Shepherd (Lopez) tracks down one of Harlan’s acolytes, Casca (Abraham Popoola) and learns where Harlan is hiding. She knew Harlan years ago when she was a child and he was the robot assistant to herself and her mother. Sent on a mission by General Jake Boothe (Mark Strong) Atlas accompanies Colonel Banks (Sterling K. Brown) and his squad of marines to the distant planet, but the entire company is shot down. To survive, Atlas must jump inside a giant mech suit with an AI named Smith (Gregory James Cohan), and she is looking for the sole survivor, Banks. Although Atlas has a difficult time connecting with people due to her traumatic past, she really doesn’t want to let the AI Smith into her head, but she may have to as Harlan and his robot army are on her trail.

The worldbuilding here seems to be pieced together from mostly James Cameron sci-fi movies. The Mech suits look a lot like the ones in Avatar (which is a little strange as they are also very similar to the Power Loaders from Aliens) but during the climax Atlas’ mech suit is equipped with multiple arms and even a giant knife which is even more closely lifted from Avatar. Also, when they arrive at a distant planet the plants glow fluorescent which has become a signature of the Avatar universe. Space marines arriving at a distant planet feels very much like Aliens, even with a scene where the traumatized advisor tells them about the potential disaster they are walking into. And, like Ripley, Atlas must figure out how to work the complex firearms and even her character’s haircut looks like Ripley. Atlas having a traumatic experience at the hands of an android but then learning to get along with another much friendlier artificial intelligence is very much like Ripley and Bishop. AI robots that look like humans are very Terminator influenced, like during the climax Harlan has swords that pop out of his hands like the T-1000 and then when half his face gets blown off it looks pretty much like when that happens to the Terminator. When Atlas is interrogating the shut down robot Casca he is just a disembodied head sitting on a table which is pretty much what happens when Ripley talks to Ash the android in Alien.

The burgeoning relationship that Atlas has with the AI in her mech suit weirdly does feel like something lifted out of the various romantic films Lopez has starred in. There is very much a formula when the two characters are emotionally separated from a great distance and she has to learn to open herself up to the other. An actual plot point is how Atlas needs to “synch” with the computer program by letting it into her mind which is basically like how the emotionally standoffish character will learn to love and grow. They even start to act more similar as their connection deepens. By the end of the film, when it looks like Smith is about to be erased, Atlas lets out her feelings and even proclaims “I really like you!” Cohan as the voice of Smith is pretty good, he goes from a blank AI to sounding like an entity with a spirit and cracking jokes.

Lopez’s interrogation scene with Casca the disembodied robot is pretty well done as the robot head still manages to be menacing. There are a few moments when she has a breakdown remembering her past traumatic experiences with Harlan and their eventual past connection turns out to be pretty dark. Liu as Harlan the genocidal robot looks unsettling with a constant smirk. His motivation is very much standard sci-fi baddie who must destroy humanity to save it. Brown as Banks the military guy enlivens a small part with some fun line deliveries and his exit is badass. Strong plays another military exposition guy; he always has a great delivery.

There is a lot of solid action throughout Atlas, the first scene when she falls out of the sky in her mech looks great, and the ending where she fully joins with the mech is neat. This is not an original sci-fi vision of the future, and her falling in love with the robot in the suit is tonally strange, but there’s enough nifty sci-fi moments to make it worthwhile, even if everything here has been done much better by other future films in the past.