NAUCALPAN DE JUAREZ, MEXICO – MAY 21: Jennifer Lopez poses during the ‘Atlas’ Mexico City Fan Event … [+]
Jennifer Lopez’s new Netflix sci-fi thriller Atlas is being smashed by Rotten Tomatoes critics.
The official logline for Atlas reads, “Atlas Shepherd (Jennifer Lopez), a brilliant but misanthropic data analyst with a deep distrust of artificial intelligence, joins a mission to capture a renegade robot with whom she shares a mysterious past. But when plans go awry, her only hope of saving the future of humanity from AI is to trust it.”
Directed by Rampage and San Andreas filmmaker Brad Peyton, the Netflix original movie premieres on the streaming service Friday. Of the 19 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes as of this publication, Atlas has a dismal 11% “rotten” rating based on 19 reviews.
Less than 50 verified users have rated the J.Lo movie so far and collectively are giving the film a 59% neutral Audience Score, so it’s conceivable that Atlas could rise into positive territory with viewers as more Netflix subscribers see it.
What Don’t Critics Like About ‘Atlas’?
In his review of Atlas for Variety, Todd Gilchrist writes, “A dearth of original ideas undercuts the appeal of Atlas, leaving Lopez to fend for herself in much the same way her character is forced to in the film’s formulaic story.”
Gilchrist even takes a shot at Jennifer Lopez’s AI companion in the film, which is framed in the guise of an exo-suit.
“The exo-suit, its ‘personality’ and the film’s overall meditation on artificial intelligence feels fully cobbled together from the parts of too many earlier films to count,” Gilchrist writes in his Variety review. “The machinery of Atlas’ lifesaving exo-suit looks no different from the AMP (Amplified Mobility Platform) suits in James Cameron’s Avatar, itself a descendant of the power loader in Cameron’s Aliens.”
Meanwhile, William Bibbiani doesn’t waste any time ripping on Atlas in his review for The Wrap, writing, “Hidden somewhere beneath all the generic dialogue, embarrassing plot, mediocre action and oddly ineffective performances, there’s a good idea in Brad Peyton’s Atlas. It’s a shame the filmmakers never found it.”
As of this publication, Atlas found at least two critiques in its initial batch of 19 reviews to be “fresh.”
One of the positive notices—from Matt Donato of IGN—notes, “Atlas earns more than a shrug, even if it won’t settle relevant and alarming debates about artificial intelligence’s place in contemporary society.”
Donato also writes in his review, “Atlas might not be the next groundbreaking sci-fi epic, but Brad Peyton’s humanity-vs.-AI saga earns points for entertaining us with a hot-button concept that sounds far worse than its execution.”
Also starring Sterling K. Brown and Simi Liu, Atlas is streaming exclusively on Netflix.
Sophie Anderson, a UK-based writer, is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, she explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture, keeping readers in the know about the latest online sensations.
