By Reviews are out for the Jennifer Lopez-led Netflix sci-fi feature “Atlas” and saying they are negative is putting it mildly.
Released today both in limited theatrical release and on streaming, the film has racked up 58 reviews from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and has landed a score just 17% (3.9/10).
The Brad Peyton-directed film in which Lopez plays Atlas Shepherd, a brilliant but misanthropic data analyst with a deep distrust of artificial intelligence.
She ends up joining 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.
Here’s a sampling of review quotes:
“It’s a surprisingly-clever B-movie packed with heart. Sure, it doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel, but at least it doesn’t take itself too seriously.” – Lyvie Scott, Inverse
“Atlas feels awfully tiny; as a romance, it treads no new emotional terrain. But there’s something oddly relatable, even romantic about its hope that healing one’s heart might be the first step in saving the world.” – Angie Han, THR
“Without a visionary director at the helm to make better use of its simplistic concept and with no infusion of camp to match its zanier facets, Atlas is a shrug.” – Courtney Howard, AV Club
“Mostly, it all looks like a video game cut scene, which isn’t just a ding on its overall aesthetics (cheap), but its general narrative thrust (weak, silly). The closer you pay attention to those elements, the harder they are to ignore.” – IndieWire
“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.” – William Bibbiani, The Wrap
“For a film that wants us to stop worrying and love big tech, Atlas does an awfully good job of showing us why we should still be wary of it.” – Benjamin Lee, The Guardian
“Lopez throws everything at this, but even major movie-star charisma can’t make up for the recycled story elements, tired exposition and endless psycho-babble.” – Helen O’Hara, Empire
“Atlas often feels like a missed opportunity, hampered by sluggish pacing and a lack of depth in character development for everyone else except the main character.” – Valerie Complex, Deadline
Simu Liu, Sterling K. Brown and Mark Strong co-star in the film which is now available everywhere on Netflix.
The post Critics Not Kind To J-Lo’s Sci-Fi “Atlas” appeared first on Dark Horizons.
