The reviews are in for Jennifer Lopez’s new sci-fi flick, Atlas – and the verdict isn’t great.
So far, the film has earned a less-than-stellar 17 per cent on the 69 critical reviews tabulated by Rotten Tomatoes – though the site has also calculated a somewhat more generous Audience Score of 51 per cent.
Some might see it as yet another loss in a rapid succession of losses for the beleaguered performer – whose This Is Me… Now tour is currently struggling amid low ticket sales.
Yet the film is still one of the top-watched on Netflix, soaring to the number one spot in the streaming site’s charts soon after its release over the weekend – a position that it has held ever since.
The plot follows J.Lo’s Atlas Sheperd, a beleaguered scientist who travels to a remote planet to defeat an AI-bot named Harlan (Simu Liu), who’d previously been behind a mass-extermination attack on Earth.
Jennifer Lopez’s latest venture, as the star of sci-fi Netflix flick Atlas, is being panned by critics who claim the movie is riddled with cliches
The film follow’s J.Lo’s scientist character Atlas as she attempts to bring down a malevolent AI entity named Harlan, played by Simo Liu
Atlas further grew up with Harlan – who’d been brought into her childhood home by her scientist mother – weaving an aspect of personal vengeance into the mission.
While Atlas has since harbored a lifelong distrust of AI, she’s ultimately put in the position of having to ally with an AI-powered bodysuit.
In allowing the AI, named Smith, to sync up with her brain – she just may have a shot at surviving the desolate alien landscape – and at taking down Harlan.
While a few praised the Jenny from the Block singer’s solid acting as well as the movie’s visual effects, that wasn’t enough to impress the vast majority of critics, who lampooned the weak dialogue and cliched storyline.
Despite the negative reviews, the movie has jumped to the top spot in Netflix’s list of most-watched movies
‘The movie unearths nothing new in what is a very old story of man’s touch-and-go relationship with technology. It not so boldly goes where “Star Trek” has gone many times before,’ wrote The New York Post’s Johnny Oleksinski.
‘Nothing you’ve never seen before,’ echoed Shawn Edwards of Fox 4 Kansas City.
‘What was Jennifer Lopez thinking when she agreed to star in this absurdly formulaic sci-fi action adventure? Did she even bother to read the cliched, derivative script?’ questioned Susan Granger of SSG Syndicate.
Meanwhile on Twitter, viewers were just as scathing.
‘I regret to say that Atlas was abysmal,’ wrote one person. ‘Good actors, beautiful sets and creature designs… heavy-handed writing rife with butler-maid dialog. UGH. A quick trip to the script doctor could have made it ROCK.’
I hate to say it, but Netflix’s “Atlas” might be the worst “sci-fi” film I’ve ever seen. Bad across the board,’ another chimed in.
Of the movie’s sympathy to the potential of AI in alliance with humankind, Erik Childress of Movie Madness Podcast sardonically quipped: ‘Way to both sides AI, movie. Don’t want to upset the algorithmic overlords.’
It has been a long few years of missteps for J.Lo.
Atlas garnered a 17% rating from 69 critical reviews tabulated by Rotten Tomatoes – though the Audience Score of 51% was somewhat more generous
The panned sci-fi flick hasn’t been J.Lo’s only misstep this year: The singer garnered flack online after seemingly blowing off a red-carpet reporter at the Met Gala
Most recently, the pop star drew ire online after seemingly being short on the red carpet of the Met Gala in responding to a reporter who’d asked her what brand she was wearing.
‘Schiaparelli,’ she responded curtly before striding off.
‘Her kindness radiates through the screen. I’m deaddd,’ one TikToker joked of the encounter.
DailyMail.com also reported that the On the Floor songstress’ $90 million Las Vegas residency might also be in ‘jeopardy’ amid slumping sales.
She was reportedly initially offered $1 million per concert, with 90 scheduled in total, by The Park MGM Theater.
But the offer may be slashed by nearly half that fee per performance.
‘MGM is watching her not doing well on the road. They are very nervous,’ a source told The New York Post, adding, ‘It’s pretty rare you have a poor tour and then go to Vegas.’
What’s more, her personal life looks to be in jeopardy as rumors swirl that her relationship with Ben Affleck is on the rocks.
J.Lo was spotted without Ben while visiting a friend in Beverly Hills over Memorial Day Weekend.
The pair also apparently took a nearly two-month long hiatus from each other, as at least seven weeks went by without the couple being seen together in public.
