Passengers 2016 Movie Review

Passengers Movie Poster

Passengers 2016, starring Chis Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Sheen and Laurence Fishburne. Directed by Morten Tyldum and written by Jon Spaihts, who actually wrote the script for Doctor Strange. The film takes place in a short distant future on a spaceship "Avalon", which travels to a distant colony planet known as the "Homestead Colony" and transporting 5,258 people has a malfunction in one of its sleep chambers. As a result, one hibernation pod opens prematurely and the one person that awakes, Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) is stranded on the spaceship, still 90 years from his destination. 

After the awakening, Jim finds out the truth about his voyage that he is 90 years yearly so he will probably die as an old man on this ship before it reaches its destination. He has a barmen android as his pal and a very long time to study every data log on the ship in order to repair the broken chamber. He is desperate and lost. Chris Pratt does a great job playing his character as we can understand his desperation and loneliness. Pratt plays a usual guy - mechanic, who is not the most confident or charming but full of surprises. He is a little different from the Star-Lord or Owen from Jurassic World. He is a more regular person.

Passengers 2016. The Ship.

This movie has such a huge work behind it. The production design is stunning. The ship looks beautiful, every detail reminds of a high quality of the future technological progress. This movie shines with the atmosphere of excellence. And this is a very expensive film to make, paying large fees to the stars of cause too. And I think that it was poorly marketed, but at least it was what I expected the movie to be, in order of tone, even though the plot is not as it was shown in the trailers.

As you noticed, Chris Pratt's character wakes up alone. He searches the ship, looks everywhere for the solution for his repair problem, tries to destroy the armored deck door to wake the Captain ( Laurence Fishburne) (Jim obviously just a mechanic and can't use many things on the starship). The road gets him to the point where he just can't stand Arthur (played by Michael Sheen) (the barmen android) company anymore. 

I am not very familiar with previous Michael Sheen's works but he was pretty good in Passengers, he masterfully captured the behavior of the machine with no actual feelings, but with some automatic artificial reactions on a behavior of others. I don't really understand much of Jim's complaints - he had a free bar just for himself for the rest of his life, but that life lasts too long, he is just all along and can't find a reason to stay alive.

Passengers. Michael Sheen and Chris Pratt movie.

And in the moment of the biggest desperation, he throws some item away in anger to come and pick it back up and see beautiful Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence) sleeping in her chamber. And then if you saw a damn poster you guess the biggest plot twist spoiled in the very first poster for the movie in the marketing campaign. 

But before that Jim was such a gentlemen to not to wake her up just in a moment he got in love with sleeping beauty. He struggled because he is a nobleman who won't take and bury someone's fortune for his own advantage. Instead, he studies her by her dairy. It turns out she is a writer and seeks adventures just as her father did to write an entertaining book. That is why she volunteered to be on this voyage. 

Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence.

The flaws of the movie are on the surface, but this is a movie you can enjoy very much for the star power, atmosphere of an expensive movie and for the romance. I didn't see necessarily a strong chemistry between Lawrence and Pratt, they fit each other and these are world class actors but there was less depth for Aurora character. She wasn't explored wisely. She definitely plays a supporting role. All of that made this romance watchable but only for the aesthetic pleasure. 

As for the plot - it was boring, everything was spoiled and the rest was not interesting as it turns out to be an action movie in the third act with most of the problems in it. The drama at the end wasn't powerful due to numbers of flaws. Overall this movie shines in the technological aspects but lacks a good script and solid filmmaking; it looked expensive but too popcorny to be serious enough as it wanted.   

Passengers. Open Space