Jennifer Lopez is the only part of Netflix’s Atlas that matters. She’s obviously the selling point, but her face on the poster is not the only thing she contributes. Lopez stars in the film’s title role, delivering a massive performance despite working with a sub-par script. For once, one of these Netflix originals benefits from their star instead of using them as a glorified billboard. Unfortunately, no other aspect of the film matches Jennifer Lopez’s energy, resulting in a dull waste of time.
Atlas Hits Netflix’s #1 and Jennifer Lopez Deserves the Credit
Atlas follows a gifted but touchy analyst who works tirelessly to hunt down an AI terrorist. The evil machine, named after I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream author Harlan Ellison, enacted a traditional Judgment Day before fleeing to space. Atlas bullies her way onto the military mission to find Harlan and bring him to justice. To that end, the team wields neural links that fuse their minds with more pleasant AI systems. Those friendly voices help the soldiers pilot massive, multi-armed mech suits. In classic Aliens fashion, the military men die in droves, leaving only Atlas to save the day. She bristles at the idea of bonding with Smith, her onboard AI, but circumstances force them together. Over time, her connection to Harlan and grim motivations become clear. The intent is clear, but the script fails to deliver anything memorable.
Atlas dropped as a Netflix original on May 24th. It hit the top ten almost immediately and has stayed in the first-place slot for almost a week so far. No one in the world is shocked by that outcome, but it’s still worth noting. Before Atlas, Jennifer Lopez starred in another unimpressive action film for Netflix. Lopez dropped The Mother last year, delivering a painfully generic entry in the overstuffed action genre. While Atlas is atop Netflix’s current top ten, The Mother stands firmly among the streamer’s all-time most-watched list. Jennifer Lopez is unmistakably perfect for these Netflix projects. Atlas is a substantial improvement upon The Mother, suggesting a potential good film in the future for their collaboration. Where The Mother is a lame recreation of a premise we’ve all seen a million times, Atlas is several tropes mashed together.
Atlas is yet another example of Netflix selecting a famous person and a sub-par script and creating another modest hit out of them. This strategy seems odd for a company that lives and dies on subscription fees. In a way, it represents their commitment to fulfilling one of their main promises. They’ll keep dropping mediocre action films with recognizable names onto the service as long as people watch. Atlas is an improvement over most examples by virtue of its shockingly strong lead performance. It earns its first-place slot, but only because the bar isn’t that high. Maybe next time, J. Lo can put that level of effort behind a fleshed-out character.
