Review of Passengers (2016) by Thequietgamer — 07 May 2017

A flawed, overhyped sci-fi movie that manages to still be entertaining due to the strength of it's core concept. It tackles the ideas of loneliness and what people are capable of doing while isolated with no other options. In a sense it asks some really tough questions, but ultimately cops out on answers and never actually dives into exploring them. Instead, it delivers a fairly standard potential disaster scenario and an undeserved happy ending.

The main problem with the movie is that it plays it's hand too early. The reveal as to why both of these people to be awake at the same time is given too soon. It would have been better suited for perhaps an end of the movie twist. It would be a cheap one, but at least then the film would have had something to catch us off guard with. Instead we get it laid out in front of us early on and are left the rest of the time just waiting for the inevitable, and ultimately predictable.

Perhaps the movie's biggest flaw is that it actually tries to come off as genuinely romantic. It's not. The whole thing is basically a really creepy, pseudo-Stockholm syndrome romance. Yet, the movie never addresses this. A shame, because had it gone this distance and really took a look at the actions of it's main character's actions, the questions it raises could have made this into something worthwhile. I mean, we get why the character has done what he's done, but the movie never challenges that. It just paints it as okay because we all would have done the same thing. If it had been more serious this movie could have been as fantastic as all the pre-release hype wanted us to believe.

So all that aside, is it a bad movie? Not necessarily. I, for one, found it entertaining for what it is. Creepy, disappointing, but full of gorgeous visuals. Plus there are the leads themselves. Both do really well and have great onscreen chemistry. Lawrence is drop-dead sexy like never before. I have always liked her as an actress, and yeah she's always been pretty, but this is first time I've actually stopped and admired the view I guess you could say. Anyways, it's a good thing she and Pratt are so likable as actors, because they are really about the only two onscreen for the vast majority of the film.

Outside of the film's core romance, which is the majority of the focus here, there's also a nice little all is not well with our vessel plot going on here as well. As things begin to deteriorate we get treated to some cool set-pieces that only sci-fi could bring. They are of course backed by stunning visuals and the always nifty future technology. When it comes to the actual sci-fi there's a pretty intelligently crafted world for the characters to inhabit.

While it's too slow, predictable, and ultimately lacking in depth to make it a truly satisfying movie there are enough entertaining moments to make it worth a watch. It's just never going to stand next to the sci-fi greats out there. A shame, because it certainly had the potential. It just needed to actually take things seriously. The concepts are there, but this was too mainstream to really deliver on them. So as a result the movie just went for crowd pleasing and left true intelligence at the door. Yet, there's still a place for movies like this. Every now and then we just need something pretty, a few exciting moments, and for it to be lead by likable actors. Passengers at least does a fair job of delivering on that front.