After 28 years of nervously watching the skies, ICN intercepts an AI bot believed to be connected to Harlan. Something is going on. A scientist named Atlas Shepherd (Jennifer Lopez) is called in as the world’s leading expert on Harlan – partly because her mother, Val Shepherd, founder of Shepherd Robotics, created Harlan and raised him alongside Atlas. At the request of General Jake Booth (Mark Strong), Atlas boards a spaceship commanded by Colonel Elias Banks (Sterling K. Brown) headed to the planet where they’ve learned Harlan is hiding.
You can tell by these names that “Atlas,” which Peyton directed from a screenplay by Leo Sardarian and Aron Eli Coleite, is highly referential. (Or, perhaps, derivative.) Harlan’s name is a nod to Harlan Ellison, the noted speculative fiction writer. Atlas is carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders; Lopez, who was also a producer on the film, throws herself completely into the role, giving a performance that’s especially impressive because she’s so completely alone. Her character’s last name, Shepherd, feels metaphorical and perhaps a reference to a beloved character from the sci-fi show “Firefly.” I could dig further, but you get the point. At times “Atlas” feels like pure imitation, and it, like the kind we’re becoming accustomed to seeing on streamers, feels cheap, dark, plasticky and fake, especially in the big action scenes. Science fiction often earns its place in the memory by imagining something new and shocking — but with “Atlas,” we’ve seen it all before.
However, it does try to raise some important questions. For some reason, the destruction of millions of humans by AI has not stopped the use of artificial intelligence in this world, as it did in the universe of “Dune”. (Actually, it’s kind of right.) Instead, they’re omnipresent, companions who play chess and adjust your home’s heating system, but also talk to you and keep an eye on you. Despite having an AI in his home, Atlas is very skeptical of the technology. So much of the film’s tension comes from his relationship with an AI named Smith (perhaps another reference, this time to “The Matrix”), with whom he must sync his mind to survive.
It’s an interesting concept, because an open question both onscreen and in real life is whether AI is inherently good, or evil, or neutral, or some fourth thing we haven’t yet put into words. Sometimes, movies like Steven Spielberg’s “AI: Artificial Intelligence” have suggested that these creatures we can create are capable of loyalty and love, and that humanity’s tendency to do the opposite is the real problem. Sometimes (e.g., Alex Garland’s “Ex Machina”), we’re on their side.
“Atlas” is primarily concerned with the ethics of artificial intelligence, and who’s to blame if everything goes wrong. This is where things get a little weird. After all, it’s hard to forget that AI itself was an issue in last year’s Hollywood strikes, in which Netflix, which is distributing “Atlas,” was a huge player. Is AI going to destroy the industry — maybe too many industries? Or will it save the world? Is Atlas right to be skeptical?
