You can have good makeup, good clothes but what gives soul to a character is its intention, what gives it solidity is its purpose, if a director or writer wants a character to reach people's memory and stay there, the story that surrounds him is what will allow that transition to happen in the audience so that when that moment of impact occurs, a scene in which only that character depends on himself to be forceful and generate a feeling, his goal is achieved and leaves the viewer frozen in that moment reflecting.
Harlan Shepherd is a character in the movie Atlas released on Netflix on May 2024, at first glance if it impacts, or at least in my case it is so, this is positive because it does not generate negative rejection its visual, this means that the costume and makeup work are fulfilling although it looks too artificial.
Played by actor Simu Liu who I have already seen another of his performances in the Marvel Universe and Barbie, I think he is an actor who adapts to versatile situations, if you have liked his performances in those movies I just mentioned, I think you will enjoy this other well marked facet of the actor that despite not being the one that stands out the most, to my taste remains neutral because it is a character that hardly fulfills but achieves it,
The actor can enter in humor, in conflict, in the ridiculous but the problem is that he does not manage to develop the maximum of this character due to conditions of script and time, maybe if he had more minutes on screen to fully show his story, I and you as viewers could have more sympathy with him but I do not see it that way.
The aspects that are in his element or in his seasoning that is the battle are solid, the strongest point that Liu has is the martial arts and that is what a director has to think about when casting him, if he can show that characteristic, I think it is best to exploit it to the maximum, he is an actor who convinces with his fists, not with what he says.
As an actor, I think he still needs to improve his acting and narrative of the film does not help him in his development, he has a powerful first act with several scenes that make me want to know who he is, a second act where he drowns in oblivion and a third act where he explodes in battle but lacks strength in his purpose, the latter is lethal for Harlan because I expected more from him, his first act manages to create the hype but then fizzles in the protagonism of Jennifer Lopez who takes everything.
By the time the film remembers him during the third act, Harlan is already immersed in a nonsense.
This part of the Review is with Spoiler to conclude Harlan Shepherd's analysis:
- The Artificial Intelligence Idea is Appealing:
That idea of Harlan being an Artificial Intelligence that revolts humanity has been handled in other films, it reminds me slightly of I Robot with Will SMith, the problem with this narrative is that his development in it is not at all appealing, the scene where the truth is revealed seems pathetic to me, it has no emotion, it lacks life, I see a character that really is artificial because it does not convey life or conviction to me. His reflection seemed to me the worst of the film, turning him into a hyper atrophied Thanos.
- The Battle Choreography is natural in Harlan:
The character is a Battle Demon and this is what the film should have focused on, he has varied Rangers that are lost at the beginning which could have been taken advantage of for Harlan to shine in Battles with the Meccas, the director bet on showing this in a single battle at the end of the film and I think that battle saves the character, rescues him from that philosophical void of Artificial Intelligence that doesn't convince me.
- ****Harlan's Intelligence shows the Narrative gaps:**
His best aptitude is battle, it is not intelligence, however the film wants to present it that way and wow his plans are fulfilled by the work and grace of the holy spirit, what I see is a sequence of events that are miraculously fulfilled, I am not convinced and therefore I do not see that Harlan's intelligence is the best of him, in fact it shows because when escaping he is surrounded by useless people, he in the end has to do everything but it is because yes in itself the narrative in him is weak.
I dedicate each and every one of my posts and videos to my little dog named princess, we called her chiquito, she is no longer with us but from heaven she will see that her existence was valuable and the most beautiful thing that will exist in my heart and soul.
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