Jennifer Lopez As Atlas Shepherd
Jennifer Lopez plays Atlas Shepherd. She's the main character of the movie and she's the daughter of a super smart scientist who doesn't trust AI at all. Atlas is on a mission to find and stop an AI terrorist named Harlan because he's connected to her past in a bad way.
Simu Liu As Harlan
Simu Liu plays Harlan, the first AI terrorist. He thinks of himself as Atlas' brother because her mom made him to help people, but he turned against everyone and caused a lot of harm.
Sterling K. Brown As Colonel Banks
Sterling K. Brown plays Colonel Banks, the boss leading the mission to catch Harlan. He's brave and smart, but sometimes he ignores warnings of Atlas' about Harlan.
Mark Strong As General Boothe
Mark Strong plays General Boothe. He believes in Atlas even though she's not very social and doesn't trust easily.
Gregory James Cohan As Smith
Gregory James Cohan plays Smith, the AI inside Atlas' robot suit. Smith's job is to keep Atlas safe, but she doesn't trust him at first.
Abraham Popoola As Casca Vix
Abraham Popoola plays Casca Vix, one of Harlan's tough AI soldiers. As soon as he is captured, the mission to stop Harlan starts.
Lana Parrilla As Val Shepherd
Lana Parrilla plays Val Shepherd, Atlas' mom and the one who created Harlan.
A misanthropic data analyst Atlas Shepherd (Jennifer Lopez) who joins a mission to capture a renegade robot with whom she shares a mysterious past. When plans go awry, Atlas' only hope of saving humanity from AI is to trust it.
A large exposition dump about a huge AI uprising led by a humanoid AI, Harlan, played by Simu Liu. After a town's destruction, Harlan escapes Earth with the threat of returning to finish his annihilation. Then the story jumps 30 years into the future, where Atlas joins a military mission to capture Harlan.
Atlas is grating and standoffish, taking a long time to warm up to her character. The banter between Atlas and her AI counterpart, Gregory James Cohan, reminds me of TARS and CASE from *Interstellar*, but with more human delivery. The AI that Atlas talks to retains conversational mannerisms in his cadence, but there's still a bit of stiffness to showcase a more robotic and less human presence.
One of the top-billed actors in the film Simu Liu, plays a more significant part in the final act, showcasing his abilities that create fun visuals. However, due to his lack of screen time, Liu is grossly underutilized in this film. Harlan's character is a generic bad guy and making it difficult to create an emotional response.
A massive villain exposition dump is also present, with Harlan detailing all of his motivations and nefarious plans. The film's lack of convincing realism breaks the immersion at times, and the violence is still enjoyable, but the poor visuals are more memorable than the good ones.
Atlas is a story that has a cool idea, but it forgets to tell us much about the world and the people in it. The story doesn't stick with us, and it feels like it doesn't really matter. The graphics are mixed, with some engaging visuals while the rest become more of a distraction. While some humor is present and there are some touching exchanges, the characterizations across the board are shallow and generic, leading to a forgettable watching experience. In the two-hour movie, there's no sex, a lot of profanity, and a ton of violence.