I honestly don’t think that there’s a person in this world who hasn’t heard of this movie; Hollywood execs pushed it that hard. I mean, okay, getting Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence to sign onboard to do a sci-fi film is kind of a big deal, but still. It felt like they’ve been teasing us with this the whole second half of 2016.
ANYWAY. The trailer looked pretty interesting and the whole space mystery thing got me on board (lol, is that a pun?). Color me intrigued. Here’s my roundup of Morten Tyldum’s (The Imitation Game (2014)) Passengers (2016).
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Passengers (2016)
" data-orig-size="1024,1513" sizes="(max-width: 406px) 100vw, 406px" aperture="aperture" />The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Passengers (2016)Please note that there may be spoilers. Read at your own risk.
THE STORY:
Jim Preston (Chris Pratt – Jurassic World (2015)), along with five thousand other people, are aboard the luxury start cruise ship Avalon en route to a new planet called Homestead II which is about one hundred and twenty years away from the planet Earth. He and the other passengers have been placed under induced hibernation and are only supposed to wake up four months before they land. Unfortunately, something goes wrong with the ship’s systems and Jim gets pulled out of sleep eighty years too early.
THE GOOD:
- The design of the Avalon. Of course I’m not knowledgeable about space shuttle designs at all and I’m sure some scientist out there is tearing the Avalon a new one BUT it looked cool and those spinning blade-slash-propeller things actually seems like it would work.
The Avalon in Passengers (2016)
" data-orig-size="1981,1024" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" aperture="aperture" />This thing actually looks like it could cruise the galaxies. - Obviously, they had a big budget. The set pieces, while minimalistic and futuristic, are deceptively simple. I’m sure building something that looks like Steve Jobs’ dream home couldn’t have been cheap. Also the CGI of the cosmos and the sun flares and what not were pretty much flawless.
Big set pieces in Passengers (2016)
" data-orig-size="2560,1024" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" aperture="aperture" /> - Michael Sheen once again proves that he’s totally okay playing the secondary lead and would still give you a good show.
Michael Sheen in Passengers (2016)
" data-orig-size="1653,1024" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" aperture="aperture" />Even as a robot the guy has so much charisma. - The two second cameo of Andy Garcia because boy, that came out of nowhere and it jolted me enough to get over the yawn ending.
THE BAD:
- For a big ship, they sure had limited restaurant options. I mean, they only had Japanese and fine dining and would that really be enough for five thousand people?
- That they only woke Laurence Fishburne’s Captain Gus Mancuso for that frakkin’ watch ID thing. If there’s one thing I hate about movies is when the filmmakers don’t even bother to try to cover up their plot devices. Captain Gus was obviously only there so that Jim and Aurora can access the mech room but surely he could’ve brought something more to the story? Although considering how much the producers forked over to both Pratt and Lawrence’s bank accounts, I guess they only thought it fair that they get as much mileage out of the two leads as they could.
- That big chunk in the middle where it was all romance and fluff, montage after montage of Jim and Jennifer Lawrence’s Aurora Lane falling in love. I was squirming in my seat and was sincerely praying for it to end because –
Romance in Passengers (2016)
" data-orig-size="2524,1024" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" aperture="aperture" />Ew. Because – read below
THE UGLY:
- Honestly speaking, Jim is one creepy motherfrakkin’ bastard. It’s such a pervy thing to wake up Aurora just because he convinced himself somehow that he’s fallen in love with her. From a ten minute profile video. Seriously?!?!? I get that it’s a heinous thing to do so maybe those Hollywood execs thought to cast a loveable schmuck like Chris Pratt into the role but I personally think this was a serious miscast. Maybe somebody like Jake Gyllenhall or somebody equally as dark would’ve been a better choice. Or, I dunno, the moviemakers could have shown more scenes of Jim wallowing in despair because of his situation in an attempt to justify his actions. As it was, the whole middle chunk of Aurora falling for Jim was just skeevy.
Chris Pratt as Jim Preston in Passengers (2016)
" data-orig-size="1606,1024" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" aperture="aperture" />Pervy, skeevy Jim Preston. - Come to think of it, so was Aurora. I may be wrong, but from what I understand, the new planet they’re journeying into, the Homestead II, is an inhabited planet and that they are the first batch to be sent to populate it. During their happy frolics, what did Aurora and Jim do? They plucked and plundered plants and fruits that were supposed to be for the new planet just because they thought it’d be romantic. They do deserve each other – they’re’ both dicks.
Jennifer Lawrence as Aurora Lane in Passengers (2016)
" data-orig-size="2425,1024" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" aperture="aperture" />
All in all, Tyldum’s Passengers was your typical blockbuster vessel that showcases the talents of two of Hollywood’s hottest actors. While the premise is intriguing, I don’t think it was completely necessary for the film to be set in space. It could’ve been set in a regular ship and would’ve had the same outcome. I think it’s a bit of false advertising to play out the movie as something like Interstellar or Gravity. Performances were okay (this wouldn’t get them any award nods) but the special effects were gorgeous. If you could move past the skeevy act of ruining somebody else’s life just because you felt lonely, you might actually appreciate it.
THE VERDICT: 6/10
*All photos are lifted from the film’s IMDB page.
