Upon release of the soundtrack album, Consequence of Sound's Rob Hakimian called the song "spirited", and AllMusic's Heather Phares described it as "typically sweeping and earnest". Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Coldplay is here too, but in a battle with Lorde's haunting version of Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", Lorde would forever reign supreme." Slant Magazine's Blue Sullivan commented that "'Atlas' is autopilot Coldplay dipping into its back catalogue for a paycheck, but at least it approximates a pulse. Though the band may have zero insider-cred, 'Atlas' proves that 'Clocks' played at three-quarter speed with most of the chorus scooped out still runs rings around most of the current zeitgeist."
