Passengers: Movie Review

There is a good movie somewhere deep inside “Passengers”. Unfortunately, it is very hard to find amongst the many different genres it is trying to hit us with.  We are given a sci-fi, romance drama, adventure, mixed with a splash of rom-com.  To try and explain it better, think “Titanic” mixed with “Castaway” and your pick of Nicholas Sparks adaptations.  If that sounds unappealing to you, then you have a good idea how I felt watching “Passengers”.

The Starship Avalon is on a 120-year voyage from Earth to colony planet, Homestead II. Transporting over 5,000 people, everything seems to be running smoothly.  That is until an asteroid collides with the ship, causing some malfunctions.  This wakes up Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) from his sleep chamber only 30 years into the voyage.  Of course, Jim is more than a bit panicked when he realizes that he is the only one awake.

After a year alone on the ship, having nobody to talk to aside from the android bartender (Michael Sheen), Jim begins to go a bit mad.  Although he knows it is wrong, Jim decides to wake up Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence).  Aurora thinks that her sleep chamber malfunctioned just as Jim’s did.  She is unaware that he fell in love with her from watching her interview video over-and-over again before waking her up in person.

Of course, Aurora winds up falling in love with Jim and they have a full-on romance.  When she eventually learns of Jim’s deception, the romance dies, but that isn’t the worst of it.  The ship begins to malfunction in a big way and they are forced to work together to save it.  A third character does awaken which is there just long enough to give them information and access to parts of the ship they otherwise could not get to.

As I said, there are some great ideas in “Passengers” but they get lost along the way.  The first act is quite solid but once Jim makes that decision to not be alone anymore, the tone goes in a few different directions. Because of this I found it difficult care.

Lawrence and Pratt are both extremely likable and they are great together in “Passengers”.  I also loved the scenes involving Sheen’s android.  I would love to see this cast work together again. Let’s just hope it’s in something much better.

By: Marc Ferman