Atlas | 2024 | PG-13 | – 1.6.5

Why is “Atlas” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “strong sci-fi violence, action, bloody images and strong language.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes many scenes of attacks by androids on humans leading to numerous deaths and including bright flashing lights and laser bursts, a child is shot at, many scenes of fights between androids and robots and humans that cause destruction of land and equipment killing many people, many arguments, and at least 1 F-word and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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A respected counterterror analyst (Jennifer Lopez), who is suspicious of artificial intelligence, joins a colleague (Sterling K. Brown) in pursuit of a rogue android (Simu Liu) from her past. Their mission is to prevent the genocide of Earth’s human population. Also with Mark Strong and the voice of Gregory James Cohan. Directed by Brad Payton. [Running Time: 2:00]

Atlas SEX/NUDITY 1

 – A male android tries to kiss a woman and she pulls away quickly.

Atlas VIOLENCE/GORE 6

 – Several flashbacks include scenes of a child being harassed by an android that her mother created, and when it convinces the girl to adjust its human-android interface earpiece, the android sees flashing scenes of every disaster on Earth; the android then manipulates the mother into shooting a large caliber handgun at the girl as she runs away (she is not struck) and as the scene ends we hear that the mother was murdered by the android.
► Soldiers shoot an android without effect and unleash colorful blasts of electric and nuclear power to surround it and make it collapse; we later see footage of what appears to be the android in a body bag and a woman later opens a metal suitcase and we see the head of the android surrounded by a mist, as it sneers, insults her and spits a small spinning buzz saw blade that cracks the force field around her until she shocks it with a weaponized chess piece, gains information from it, and destroys its neural network with more electricity as the head smokes.
► An army of androids arm themselves and march through a dark hallway to a door where we hear a buzz saw and a huge robot with a buzz saw arm cuts through the door and approaches them; the army shoots all its weapons and the robot fires larger weapons and also uses a huge serrated sword to kill all the androids (we see them lying in pieces). A man wields a giant rifle-cannon filled with jet fuel and shoots flames to consume a cadre of androids and a building, killing himself in the process. A huge robot turns cartwheels and shoots a spacecraft out of the sky in large flames and billowing smoke; an android shoots and kills a woman in a huge robot, after cuts slashes in her arms, and gives her defibrillator shocks; the android wields a nuclear sword that becomes a long energy spewing whip, a rocket explodes and the huge robot falls and later stands, stumbles, falls, and deactivates; a long crossbow-like bolt shoots an android in the eye, and it drops to the ground.
► A woman breaks her leg and a robot cleans the wound (we see a shallow gash and a little blood); we hear that the break was a compound fracture, but don’t see any bone, and the robot clamps a metal plate on the woman’s leg as we hear a loud crunch, and puts a brace around the lower leg and the woman screams in pain.
► During a lightning storm, six androids attack a woman controlling a huge robot and they fall and roll down a hill, releasing an ion bomb that scorches many square miles of land and vaporizes androids; an android that reappears is crushed by the huge robot and its head further crushed (something like antifreeze oozes from it). We hear 911 calls about fires and androids attacking people as we see a montage of soldiers shooting laser rifles, explosions, and damaged buildings and space taxis while on-screen news reports warn Earth of the danger of android attacks (we hear screams throughout the sequence).
► We hear that a woman’s father left the family when she was nine because her mother had an important scientific job, and the mother was murdered when the child was 11 years old. Two men argue at length in one scene. A woman argues with an army general and a colonel a few times, as well as a group of several Army Rangers, who sneer and scoff at her; she is later assigned to lead a group of Army Rangers in a manhunt and a battle against androids that plan to destroy all humans on Earth.
► A woman is placed in the cockpit (the head) of a robot where she operates its limbs with her hands and feet, straining, grunting, shouting, and arguing with the computer personality in several scenes; she struggles through deep snow and rugged desert terrain on a foreign planet with gravity 1.4 times that of Earth.
► Holograms, schematics and mathematical equations are seen hanging in the air, and energy circles move around tools and the hands/arms using them in many scenes throughout the movie. Inside a large spacecraft, many huge robots practice martial arts. A woman transports into a room (similar to Star Trek) surrounded by a swirling spiral of particles. A woman cries and says that she is responsible for the deaths of three million people already. An android says that humans are a threat to every other species and must be destroyed.
► Several combat scenes in space and on a foreign planet feature battles between a cadre of super-intelligent androids and robots, and humans accompanied by huge robots; each sequence includes loud laser blasts from rifles, laser cannons, oversized electronic flamethrowers, nuclear power throwers, electronic mortar rifles, flaming electronic swords, weapons like cattle prods, and clubs. We see brightly colored beams of energy bolts and energy bullets, beams of light, clouds of smoke and fire during loud explosions, and rolling dirt storms caused by ion bombs while smaller ships and larger robots fall out of the sky and crash-land on the planet in flames.
► A planet is desert-like with red dirt, cacti, and tall thin trees; a sinkhole swallows a huge robot and shakes its operator around inside it (the operator suffers from a bleeding cut on her forehead) and she screams. A woman inside a huge robot finds a field full of destroyed human ships among smoldering debris, their pilots dead and grimy.
► A man that we hear has five broken ribs, and we see his bloody face is strapped to a gurney and his eye is held open by long metal pincers in a dungeon laboratory; an android threatens to kill him. A woman is captured by an android and strapped to a gurney with her eye held open as the android uses a thin metal probe to touch her eye; the camera cuts away and we hear drilling and screaming (when we see the woman again, there is no evident injury).

Atlas LANGUAGE 5

 – At least 1 F-word, 16 scatological terms, 1 anatomical term, 13 mild obscenities, name-calling (idiot, vain, rigid, hostile, old, house-bot, smart [anatomical term deleted], you little…), 4 exclamations (shut-up, whoa), 10 religious profanities (GD), 23 religious exclamations (e.g. Jesus, come to Jesus, I swear to God, God knows, Holy [scatological term deleted], my God, oh God, God, oh my God, peace to the fallen). | profanity glossary |

Atlas SUBSTANCE USE

 – A woman drinks many cups of quadruple-strength coffee throughout the film and eats a coffee lollipop.

Atlas DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Disrespect toward women in authority, neglected children, propaganda against new technologies, environmentalism, artificial intelligence/androids, war, the military, genocide, memories, danger, torture, fear, anger, hatred, sadness, remorse, guilt, self-sacrifice, trust, teamwork, learning, friendship, success.

Atlas MESSAGE

 – Artificial intelligence can be useful, but it can also be destructive.