Review of Passengers (2016) by Axet — 03 Jan 2017

I wanted to see this over Christmas, but family I was visiting vetoed it because of the less than stellar reviews. The critic herd went the other way from their all too often mass over-praise and general easy going across the board and seems to have under-rated here. A shame since it looked to be a "Gravity" like (9 rating) big popcorn entertainment, so desperately missing in general at the box office this holiday season. This actually is very much a "Gravity" type adventure but much more sci-if in scale and future imaginings. Yet it has about as unique a story concept as it gets with these things in today's Hollywood. It is pretty smart science fiction that wisely sets up a plot development that gives the romance some real pathos. I buy the love story in this more than that in "Allied". Where it goes wrong is all but a given these days: it turns too formula in the end. Well, it sure could have been worse, way worse.

I'm a fan of Thomas Newman's music, which most of the time adds an emotional weight to the proceedings whatever they are in all the so many films he's scored. This time is no exception. The photography is subtly rich and conventionally shot making it infinitely more watchable than such handheld junk as "Jason Bourne" or "Patriots Day". The leads are fine. They are stars and pull you along as stars must do. The pace is slow, but that is not always a bad thing as "2001" demonstrates to the point of masterpiece genius ultimate classic. This is not a great movie that requires multiple viewings for its total effect though. Think of it as "2001 Very Lite" or "3016: A Millennial Romantic Odyssey".