J-Lo and Netlifx at it again. After the by-the-numbers (but still watchable) The Mother here's another Lopez flick, and this time she's venturing into Science Fiction territories.
In a nutshell: young girl watches her mother and half the world killed by an AI developed by that same mother, and returns to the fight 28 years later, having to overcome her fear of AI.
With a little more work...
... it could have been better. There are some promising elements in there, the effects are not too bad, and the acting could have been worse.
But it's missing something. It's missing some additional reality checks, a little script doctoring, and a full story check by an engineer. It's weird how (bad) writers may screw up technical facts, or implement technology in their story just to move that same story forward. Though I don't like that (see here for a previous book review with another example) such authors didn't spent the money on technical expertise. They might simply not have the money.
There is, however, no excuse for a costly movie using the same lazy approach. And yet, it's exactly what Atlas does.
Euh... what?
Here's a little list of issues and questions...
1. One single AI is the source of everything
Okay, I can swallow that. Things have to start somewhere, but how did the humans identify him? A supersmart AI would know how to hide.
2. One single AI
Euh... it couldn't clone itself, make copies of itself?
3. The world is still full of AI
So, we have robots and automated machines everywhere, and even a neural interface (as used by the Rangers) and no one is worried about yet another AI hacking job? The 'evil' Harlan could have returned to the world hacked everything any day.
If the new AI isn't affected by Harlan's machinations, then how could Harlan hack Smith at the end?
4. Harlan escapes from Earh
Right. He had a rocket in his back pocket. Flew off, and we lost him.
5. Harlan is in another Galaxy
Euh, serious? When's the last time someone worked on their star charts? And if Harlan got away using an FTL ship he could be anywhere, thousands of light years away. Hard fail.
6. One Earth
So, we got FTL, but Humanity is still stuck on a single world? Not too smart...
7. In 28 years...
... all Harlan did is build one single base? Once he has reached a certain level of technical capability and production capacity he could rapidly expand his forces.
Instead, he sticks to a single planet with a single base, and gets his ass kicked by a human woman in a Buzz Lightyear suit (aka Smith aka the ranger's exo-suit, which is the egged up version of the ones they use in the Avatar movies).
8. In 28 centuries...
You see, that's the point. Couldn't Harlan simply wait 28 centuries? He might not age, and thus might not be in a hurry.
9. Tropes
Time limits (energy depleted), alien atmosphere (not even a face mask), trust issues (Atlas versus Smith)... All missing was an evil corporation, and a military officer that wants to recover Harlan for study. Oh wait, at least we had that.
All in all, there's enough other stuff that would deserve another look. Let's not dig any further...
If none of the above bothers you, then it's a great movie.
The Verdict
Could have been better. Now it's just a brainless, average Scifi flick, that only rated as average because lots of other Scifi stuff is sooooo bad.
(You know, compared with Snyder's Rebel Planet the movie Atlas is Oscar worthy material.)
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