MovieChat Forums > Atlas (2024) Discussion > J-Lo really can't act...

J-Lo really can't act...

posted 9 months ago by cyguration (3951)
23 replies | jump to latest

This was a dumb movie through and through, and basically a vanity project for J-Lo, but even if it were going to be a vanity project you would think she would bring her A-game to this project. Instead, she came across as self-aware and incredulous toward the concept of the film; it felt like she was using it as a conceit to stay relevant while using something that would appeal to the "younger demographic", which is probably how it was pitched to her.

I can probably imagine before she came on as a writer/producer the film was probably a lot more team-focused and less stupid. There was definitely a seed of something cool here, but it was like she just couldn't get out of her own way to allow the film to stand on its own.

I feel like if someone like Noomi Rapace was given the role (she always seems to make everything better) and they grounded the combat a lot more and made it feel less stupid, it could have been worthwhile.

I cannot believe Sterling Brown was basically in this film as little more than a sacrificial male cheerleader; how emasculating is that? It also seems to follow every single modern feminist film where a character who doubts the female lead in any way has to stick around to tell her that she's right. They did the EXACT same thing in the film Prey, where just before her brother dies he tells her she was right. It's such BS.

But yeah, if this film wasn't a J-Lo vanity project it could have been a cult classic like Spectral.

[–] Tina (725) 9 months ago

I'm beginning to think that Jennifer Lopez slept her way into celebrity. The only talent that she has is as a dancer. Her singing is weak and so is her acting. Most of her songs have other vocalists singing for her on the track.

[–] parkerbot (10655) 8 months ago

The Machine props up what it wants to prop up.

Exhibit A - Taylor Swift.

[–] [deleted] 8 months ago

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[–] cyguration (3951) 8 months ago

she's challenged and mocked by female soldiers.

Who all die because they didn't listen to her.

if anything lopez was 'femasculated' by Smith AI the entire movie and Smith was the one proven correct all along about needing to open up and sync..... whereas lopez was stubborn neurotic and unlikeable until Smith set her straight.

This is true -- Smith was the only likable character in the film, and "died" trying to save J-Lo so she could pull a 4D chess move and kill Harlan.

the brilliant screwup (person) "proven to be right" is a also movie trope, probably formerly applied mainly to male protagonists in action/adventure (maybe sandra bullock made a few in her time..?).

This is a trope typically used in disaster films for a character who is oftentimes off-kilter but turns out to be correct; they may or may not be the main character or may or may not live, sort of like John Doe in Freddy's Dead or Herbert West in Re-Animator.

[–] [deleted] 8 months ago

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[–] cyguration (3951) 8 months ago

oh wait no that never happened either

He didn't prattle on about her being right, but they made it pretty clear and evident to give him lines to explicitly say she was right just before he met his demise. They did the exact same thing in Prey with the brother, and all I could do was roll my eyes.

absolutely. i haven't seen independence day (1996) in a long time .. i vaguely remember something like this... i think jeff goldblum's scientist character could have been entirely interchanged with atlas at many points, and the entire (lack of) gender dynamics could have played out the exact same

It's funny because I was LITERALLY going to reference Jeff Goldblum's character in Independence Day in my previous comment, but couldn't remember if I had that right or not, so I avoided using that reference but I'm guessing he was that character since you referenced it as well.

The difference, however, was that Goldblum was a deuterogonist and shared hero responsibilities with Will Smith, along with Bill Pullman and Randy Quaid. So it wasn't like he was Gary Stu'ing his way to the end credits.

[–] [deleted] 8 months ago

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[–] cyguration (3951) 8 months ago

and neither was prey feminist, so i see why it's confusing

It absolutely was, since women in Apache tribes weren't hunters. Making her more capable than her male hunters was complete over-the-top feminist agitprop.

perhaps it's possible you only explicitly remember it happening when it's male said to female

Nah, I remember it because it's completely unrealistic, especially since these are happening in action films where these women are the least capable. So it's to over-emphasise something that not only doesn't happen in real life nor makes a lot of sense in the context of the structures of the film.

the lead female black cop tells him "we chould have listened to you".. something like that

Hmm, that movie doesn't sound familiar but the premise reminds me a little bit of Toy Soldiers with Sean Astin or Chopping Mall. Maybe you can use ChatGPT to help you find the movie? I'm curious what the film is.

trying to read into it like a rorschach test is as crazy/delusional as a feminist reading secret oppressive patriarchy into everything

Nah, it's just pattern recognition.

so speaking of which, to someone who finds feminism everywhere, are all these movies supposed to be likewise considered meninist i sincerely wonder? mission impossibles, john wicks, indiana joneses, all the 80s action heroes

Ha, there is no such thing as "meininist" since most action movies are exaggerations on natural male tendencies. For instance, there are real life boxing matches similar to the first two Rocky movies -- I believe the first film was based on a Muhammad Ali fight. For instance, there are no real life female Navy Seals, SAS operators, or Tier 1 operators. So whenever they put women in these roles it's not an exaggeration of real-life, it's just straight-up fantasy.

[–] [deleted] 8 months ago

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[–] cyguration (3951) 8 months ago

red-pilled and informed, it's actually more clear examples of meninism/whatever and patriarchy

Nope, because well before media was even a thing there was Antilla The Hun, Mishmannah, Genghis Khan, Guan Yu, Ezer, King Richard III, Blackbeard, and Mikhail Ivanovich Budenkov, just to name a few. They all have greater feats than what's depicted in most action films. So no, it's not even based on some fantasy, just -- as a I mentioned -- depictions of mighty men of valor from the past brought into modern depictions of media for a new generation of men. There have never been women of equal calibre in any regard to war as the men named above. So no, the feminist propaganda is not the same as male entertainment.

doesn't mean either prey or atlas are feminist.

They are, because they are based on pushing an agenda that has no basis in reality, history, biology, or sociophysiology.

using wit (hopefully you agree that exists in women), action and luck etc

I would have agreed if she didn't physically manhandle the Predator, including tying it up and even physically ripping a mandible out of its jaw. Even the average man cannot pull a tooth out of an animal's jaw with his bare hands. She did more physical damage to the Predator than Arnold did in his fist fight; Arnold was unable to pull out a Mandible or even get close enough to do so. How do you reconcile that?

i can remember it like kind of a die hard type of movie but a kid 🤔

Holy snaps, I think you're thinking about the movie Masterminds from 1997 with Patrick Stewart? Here is the trailer, let me know if this is it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ7sjitftNg

[–] MoviesStillSuck (560) 8 months ago

She’s never been able to act, and she isn’t actually sexy. She has a symmetrical face, a bitchy attitude, and a DEI-friendly ethnicity which has caused weak Hollywood insiders to cower before her for decades.

[–] cyguration (3951) 8 months ago

She has a symmetrical face, a bitchy attitude, and a DEI-friendly ethnicity which has caused weak Hollywood insiders to cower before her for decades.

Perfect summation of her. In this movie she was especially bitchy to the point of coming across as insufferable. Her character was extremely unlikable, but not in an unlikable-but-cool-way like Don Johnson in Dead Bang, Ely Pouget in Death Machine, or Brian Bosworth in Stone Cold.

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[–] kwestmo (4385) 8 months ago

What's wrong with 'a symmetrical face"? Or do you mean an asymmetrical face?

[–] MoviesStillSuck (560) 8 months ago

Nothing is wrong with a symmetrical face, and that’s my point. She has used it to her advantage, much to the detriment of entertainment seekers everywhere.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (15093) 8 months ago

I've been hearing a lot of stuff behind the scenes about J-Lo that isn't very flattering. Evidently her music tour has gone very poorly, she has tried really hard to fake the number of people going to the concerts on her tour as well as following her on social media, she apparently has very poor taste in men, and the reason Ben Affleck has dumped her twice is because she's a control-freak. It seems, he'd forgotten about why he dumped her the first time, and went back to her after Jennifer Garner divorced him over the affair he had with their kids' nanny. It appears, based on eyewitnesses who knew J-Lo, that she's not a very nice person.

I remember in the early 2000s she was in several movies, and yet people hardly comment on them at all. She's not a bad actress, but she's not a memorable one either.

[–] cyguration (3951) 8 months ago

So basically, in real life she's like the character in the film? Ha. That's kind of hilarious, art imitating life.

[–] [deleted] 8 months ago

That's spot on. Aside from Serena, her movies blip rather than spike.

Out of sight and Serena may be the best she has. Enough got some buzz, but everything else is not great.

She's been popular primarily because of her early career and her rear.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (15093) 8 months ago

I always liked "The Wedding Planner" and "Maid in Manhattan," but they're not the top best chick flicks I've ever seen. The only reason I ever took an interest in "The Cell" was because of the weird costumes, not the film itself. If you listen to her songs, such as "First Love," she sounds okay, but kinda bland compared to bigger, more talented pop stars of the Millennium era.

[–] [deleted] 8 months ago

J-Lo is famous because she's got a big fat ass. She can't act but she can sit on my face.

[–] BrandNewPoster (10996) 7 months ago

She's decent in certain roles. I thought she was effective here.