Jennifer Lopez also serves as one of Atlas’ producers.

With filmmakers making sci-fi movies more frequently than ever before, it has become relatively rare to find a good sci-fi movie that offers something the audience doesn’t already know, and Jennifer Lopez’s latest Netflix original, “Atlas,” is living proof of that. Filmmakers these days seem so caught up in replicating the success of blockbuster franchises in the genre like Star Wars that they seem to have forgotten what makes a good movie: a good movie must resonate with the audience, not just be a collection of high-tech scenes and worn-out lines. Lopez’s “Atlas” shares similar flaws, including an unimaginative concept, a high level of predictability, and a superficial portrayal of worn-out themes.

Atlas Review: Another article on AI

The film introduces Harlan (Simu Liu), the world’s first artificial intelligence (AI) terrorist, who corrupts the world’s AI bots and drives them to destroy humanity. As the Dance of Death continues for days and humanity retaliates, Harlan leaves Earth, promising to return one day to finish what he started.

25 years later, a special organization called the International Coalition of Nations (ICN) was born to fight against AI terrorists. When Harlan’s best friend Casca (Abraham Popoola), who escaped with him, was captured, the ICN decided to ask for help from Lopez’s data analyst, Atlas Shepard. Shepard shared his childhood with the two technology monsters and became the last hope to save humanity.

But Shepard is no ordinary analyst. She’s moody, vocal, stubborn, sarcastic, antisocial, emotionally scared, lives in a quad americano, and doesn’t trust AI one bit (even though her house is filled with AI technology). Shepard has spent her life making a few guesses about Harlan, but when the opportunity arises, she’s in no mood to sit back. Despite repeated protests from the ICN (because she doesn’t have the physical training necessary to face the challenges the universe may throw at her), she insists on being sent with a task force to the planet where Harlan is hiding.

Atlas starts off strong but quickly loses steam due to a shallow script and Lopez’s over-the-top performance. Lopez’s character comes across as an angry teenager constantly throwing tantrums, rather than the high-IQ analyst she is. The film does little to establish her as an enigmatic figure with emotional baggage. Lopez is unconvincing in the role, lacking the sincerity required for such a character.

The film argues that she has endured significant psychological pain for decades, but its portrayal is mediocre, barely touching on the complex layers of Lopez’s character’s emotional instability and surviving on the surface. Given that the entire film is focused on Lopez and her inner conflict, with no consideration given to anything that happens outside of this premise, the film feels criminally underdeveloped.

But despite the disjointed and childish portrayal, I enjoyed the occasional lull that came in the form of a special AI bot suit character voiced by Gregory James Cohan, who is the polar opposite of Shepard. This super-adaptive suit is calm, gentle, and patient. He believes that all AI bots , including himself, are alive, and that everything with consciousness has a soul. He balances the instability that Shepard brings, making for a perfect combination. The simplicity with which he deals with Shepard’s problems will make you crave a suit like this.

Unfortunately, Cohan’s characters aren’t enough to carry the weight of the film, and Atlas is a big no-no for die-hard sci-fi fans or anyone looking for a highly CGI-driven film.

For a more serious look into the complicated relationship we share with AI, Joaquin Phoenix’s Her remains at the top of the charts 10 years after its release.

The post Atlas Review: Feels like a sci-fi movie you’ve already seen appeared first on Review Products.

When Nathan W. Pyle started posting his Strange Planet web comic series on his Instagram profile in early 2019, he probably didn’t expect to see it adapted into a web series in a few years. The comics, following a species of blue beings on a different planet very similar to Earth, has the beings describe their very human-like experiences in literal terms, to humorous effect. The Strange Planet web series is fabulously true to the source material, in both aesthetic and dialogue.

The series, co-created by Pyle with Dan Harmon (known for his work on Community and Rick and Morty), is available to stream now on Apple TV+. Three episodes are available to watch now, with new episodes dropping every Wednesday (in India) till the 10-episode run for the first season is completed. Each episode is under 30 minutes long, and is packed with its own unique stories and situations; read on for my spoiler-free review.

Just like the comics, the dialogue in Strange Planet is the key to the show, with the blue beings describing everything in technically accurate and literal wording. That’s not to say that the dialogue is emotionless or too straightforward – in fact it’s the opposite. Fans of the Instagram comics might have read out the words in a fairly robotic manner, but the characters are more human-like than you might have expected.

The Strange Planet series is based on the web comics by Nathan W. Pyle

This over-the-top literal dialogue makes for plenty of laugh out loud moments, such as referring to confetti as ‘tiny trash’ and alcoholic drinks as ‘mild poison’. The characters are also incredibly blunt about their emotions and feelings, and the lack of pretence and sarcasm is an excellent way to demonstrate to the viewers how complicated our interactions have become, and how sometimes reading into things isn’t as easy as it seems.

Whenever a literary source is adapted – either in the form of animation or live action – the artists get to take some creative liberties in how the aesthetic is defined. With Strange Planet being a comic, the aesthetic has already been set in stone, and fortunately the web series sticks to the now iconic looks and expressions of the world. This includes not just the blue beings themselves, but also the creatures, with subtle touches such as three-eyed pigeons and dogs.

For obvious reasons, the comics weren’t as detailed in showing the world around – comic panels tend to focus on the characters. Strange Planet has rightly taken some liberty here, and if you’ve watched Rick and Morty you’ll find the artwork quite familiar. It blends rather well with the established art from the comics; this collaboration between Pyle and Harmon is clearly well thought out and executed.

Each episode of Strange Planet features its own unique stories and scenarios exploring very ‘human-like’ topics of emotion, such as fear, sadness, loneliness, and anxiety. Friendships and romantic relationships exist, as do the pressures of employment and enjoyment. Just like the comics, nothing gets too complicated – the focus is firmly on the dialogue, and the emotion that can be portrayed with being excessively literal and giving figurative expressions a skip.

With short episodes, this is the perfect series to watch quickly or during short breaks or phases where you need something funny to lighten the mood. If you’re a fan of the comics like I am, you don’t want to miss this. Even if you haven’t stumbled upon this Internet sensation previously, Strange Planet is easy enough to enjoy for everyone.

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