It’s not often that I get to talk about state-of-the art fictional war armor that can take a small country down by itself. In the Jenifer Lopez starrer Atlas, she’s unwillingly put inside an ARC suit when the spacecraft comes under attack. The suit does protect Atlas from dying, but her aversion to neural syncing and using an AI-controlled machine in Harlan’s territory makes it an interesting angle.
Spoilers Ahead
What is S.M.I.T.H.?
Smith is an artificial intelligence system assigned to an ARC Nine suit, and he’s a co-learning adaptive artificial intelligence. Smith learns from his Rangers, and even if the Ranger is not neuro synced with it, he’d analyze their words and actions to come up with the best viable course of action for his ranger. Smith might be born out of codes and programming, but he has human emotions like empathy, a knack for humor, and pain.
What weapons does S.M.I.T.H. have?
Smith is armed with several types of weapons in his arsenal, which should be enough for his rider to combat any battle scenario. Smith has shoulder cannons that can swivel both ways to shoot enemies down. The suit also has advanced assault rifles in both arms, and they’re used for quick firing. For long-range attacks, Smith is armed with high-end missiles. To set traps for the enemy, Smith has thermal mines at his disposal that could be detonated from far away. For close combat, Smith is equipped with plasma blades that’re capable of searing through any opponent that dares to take him on. Smith’s biggest and most effective weapon is an ion bomb, which can wipe out an entire city if used. Smith also has an undocumented chest cannon, and Harlan misses the opportunity to extract that from him because it’s not listed in his official weapon inventory.
What medical assistance can S.M.I.T.H. provide?
When Smith and Atlas fall into the sinkhole caused by the ion bomb, Atlas’ tibia or shin bone gets fractured. Smith immediately pushes her bone back and stitches her up. Smith gives her legs a fix in no time and then seals her cuts with a metal plate and a kind of freezing spray. Smith also gives her a meal cube consisting of electrolytes and protein for being a good patient. By the end of the movie, Atlas gets knocked out and her pulse drops to zero when Harlan hits Smith with a massive blow. Smith activates his inbuilt defibrillator to kickstart her heart. The shocks do help Atlas come back to life and eventually defeat Harlan.
How does Smith get out of Harlan’s restraints?
Smith acts a little cocky about how nobody can breach his systems, but Harlan does, and he breaches Smith’s firewall completely and puts him to sleep. One advantage of the ARC suit is that it can’t be fully shut off unless his reactors are destroyed or pulled out. When Atlas calls for Smith using Elias’ neuro-sync device, Smith does answer. However, he’s been shackled by Harlan, and all of his weapons have been extracted, except the chest cannon. Smith asks Atlas to let him fully sync with him, and as Atlas lets him, she also confesses that it was her who allowed Harlan to tamper with the neuro sync device of her mother Val. Harlan eventually made Val kill herself and committed a worldwide genocide. However, Smith reassures Atlas that he truly cares about her, and she shouldn’t hold herself responsible for what happened. Smith tells her that she’s the reason that he exists, and it’s time that they fully synchronize. Smith breaks free of the chains and upgrades himself with the scrap he finds nearby.Â
What happens to S.M.I.T.H. in the end?
After assisting Atlas in a wrathful battle, Smith’s fusion capacity comes down to one percent, not to mention that his mechanical body has been decimated by Harlan. Smith disables the neural link between him and Atlas to transfer the leftover oxygen to her breathing mask. The oxygen is just enough for her to survive until ICN forces arrive to rescue her. Smith’s primary objective is to keep his Ranger alive, and after ensuring that Atlas is safe, he deactivates himself. Despite Atlas ordering him to stop the process, Smith doesn’t stop. She admits that it’s not AI that she has a hatred for, but all the people who have come into her life have turned out to be nothing but disappointments. She tells Smith that he’s not one of them, and Smith says he finally gets humor. Before shutting off, Smith makes her a coffee cube for the road and thanks Atlas for trusting him.
Does Atlas revive Smith?
Atlas saw an AI kill her mother when she was ten, and she grew up hating everything and everyone who advocated for artificial intelligence. She’s always thought that they’re a threat to humans, and her trauma is so big that you can’t really blame her. She thinks she’s responsible for the deaths of three million people. After spending a day with Smith in GR-39, Atlas realized that Smith was what Harlan was supposed to be. Atlas develops a series of ten ARCs with multiple modifications, and it definitely looks a lot sturdier than the ARC Nine. Trying to take it out on a test drive, Atlas is surprised when Smith doesn’t ask her to complete the initiation module, and it’s the same old Smith who helped Atlas conquer her lifelong trauma.
