Passengers: Film Review

Would you take the chance to help colonize a new planet? Would you say yes to being in hyper-sleep for 120 years to reach that planet? Now, what would you do if your hyper-sleep pod woke you up too early and you were all alone on a ship that won’t make it to your new home before you die? That is what Jim and Aurora must decide.

Jim and Aurora sign up to move to the Homestead Colony. A new colony on a new planet in a new solar system. It’s the chance of a lifetime for writer Aurora Lane, Jennifer Lawrence, but for Jim, it is a fresh start. Each are running from Earth to find something but end up finding each other.

The ship is supposed to be fail safe and the pods even more so. The ship cannot be damaged, or so they thought. A giant asteroid ends up hitting the ship and causing malfunctions. That’s how Jim, played by Chris Pratt, wakes up. After a year, alone, on the ship he must make some drastic decisions. That’s where Aurora comes in.

Passengers is an interesting movie with a solid plot. It keeps your attention and doesn’t let go. The last 45 minutes of the movie is where it fails. The action is great and then it falls away and turns back into a sappy space love story. It isn’t bad, just not good either. Up to that point the movie is about Jim and Aurora living on the ship, making it their home and learning to live with the fact that they are doomed.

Passengers isn’t a dud though. Director Morten Tyldum, best known for directing The Imitation Game, does a fantastic job at keeping your attention and building the tension. You can feel how alone Jim really is and his pain. Pratt and Lawrence have amazing chemistry and even when their relationship goes south you can see they still like each other. In fact, the best thing about the movie is the actor’s chemistry.

Passengers is not the best movie to ever come out but it certainly isn’t the worst. It has a plot that is interesting and actors that look like they want to be in the same room together. Michael Sheen is fantastic as Arthur the android bartender. When the tension gets going it doesn’t let up but the best thing this movie does is make you feel alone. Passengers is defiantly worth a watch but just ignore the ending…it’s a little cheesy.

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