Before this movie came out the hype train was running at top speed. Everyone I knew couldn’t wait to see it, probably because both Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence have been in some great movies the last couple of years. Add a little bit of science fiction to it and show a nice trailer and most people were sold on the concept. I let that train pass me by, so it took a while before I decided to give it a chance. I should have waited longer as this movie really was disappointing.
A spaceship is on its way to a far away colony. All the passengers are in hypersleep during the journey, which takes longer than the average human lifetime. One of those passengers is Jim Preston (Pratt), a mechanic, who wakes up 90 years early because of a problem with his sytem. It doesn’t take long before he realises that he’s the only one not sleeping. He tries various options in order to get his pod working again, but eventually he has to make peace with his situation. The only one he can talk to is a robotic bartender (Michael Sheen). While looking at the passengers he sees Aurora Lane (Lawrence). He watches her videos and slowly becomes obsessed by her. Eventually he decides to wake her and win her for him. It’s a selfish choice he has to deal with, which turns out isn’t his only problem.
Of course this is a very interesting setup which takes place in a beautifully designed spaceship. It’s a shame though that the movie itself feels as empty as the spaceship it is set on. This is a story which could have been very dark, but turns out to be a light romantic story which never convinces its viewers that the two main characters have a real connections and where the consequences of their choices aren’t explored as much as they could. Unfortunately a missed opportunity, but a movie which despite that has just enough entertainment value to be bearable.
Well this is one of the few times I don’t fully agree…..your thought process is dead on maar the plot was more then bearable and the effects utterly luscious….the true disappointment was the ending….I needed a better conclusion then the cabin and the trees…..
We can’t always agree of course. It could have been so much better. Recently read it would probably improve if it was told from Lawrence her perspective. Still wouldn’t fix that ending though!
So, I watched this recently, but I only got an hour into it before I had to go somewhere. The first hour wasn’t terrible, and I don’t know the twist or how it ends, but I can see why this would be disappointing or a missed opportunity. Surprising to see a flop like this from these two, no?
Yeah, it really is surprising!
Passengers made close to $295m worldwide, on a budget of $110m, so it was far from a flop.
Although the film is not without its faults, I liked it quite a bit, and found that most critics who disliked it reacted badly to the premise of Jim’s stalking-type beahavior being rewarded with Aurora’s love. Instead of applauding the film for presenting a very interesting dilemma to ponder (can a “victim” fall for her “aggressor” under exceptional circumstances?), snap moral judgments were applied and the critics moved on.
I think ultimately audiences worldwide judged this one much better than the critics.
Maybe financially it wasn’t a flop…but I don’t really care about the money…it’s about whether or not it managed to entertain and wow me and it didn’t manage to do that to the extent I was expecting.
Great review and I agree totally. My own review concluded: “All the potential evident in the early part of the film is frittered away in a silly ‘romance on the rocks’ space opera as it becomes a philosophical debate on which gender is capable of the greater quantum of selfishness. Pratt and Lawrence are really quite watchable in spite of the script, the filming is very entertaining, and the whole love scenario would have been interesting in someone’s earthly kitchen but not on the most advanced galactic odyssey ever undertaken”.
Yeah, can totally agree with that!