Passengers Reviewed
Whatever producer or studio head decided to release his space blockbuster one week after Star Wars must be a mad man. What executive in their right mind would feel they could go against the movie of all movies? But Passengers isn’t like Star Wars at all really; obviously the two are comparable given the genre and the setting, but Passengers tells a complicated and intriguing story and does it on the backs of fantastic performances by two of the most likable lead actors in Hollywood.
In the middle of a 120-year journey, a spacecraft traveling to a distant planet and transporting thousands of people has a malfunction. As a result, two passengers, Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) and Aurora Dunn (Jennifer Lawrence), wake up still 90 years from their destination and are stranded without anyone else on the ship to help them.
That is actually not the entire plot; there is an important detail to the story that is being left out of trailers, so out of respect to the storytellers I am going to leave it out as well. However, there is a contingent of people out there for whom the movie will be ruined by this development. I don’t begrudge that reaction at all; this is a complicated story, but for me that aspect of the plot led to many fascinating themes.
Passengers is simultaneously a romantic drama, a sci-fi thriller, and an action movie –but above all else it is a movie about humanity and morality. In fact, the first part of the movie feels a little like Cast Away as our leads come to grips with being the only people around, and it’s then the movie explores its depths.
In the middle of a 120-year journey, a spacecraft traveling to a distant planet and transporting thousands of people has a malfunction. As a result, two passengers, Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) and Aurora Dunn (Jennifer Lawrence), wake up still 90 years from their destination and are stranded without anyone else on the ship to help them.
That is actually not the entire plot; there is an important detail to the story that is being left out of trailers, so out of respect to the storytellers I am going to leave it out as well. However, there is a contingent of people out there for whom the movie will be ruined by this development. I don’t begrudge that reaction at all; this is a complicated story, but for me that aspect of the plot led to many fascinating themes.
Passengers is simultaneously a romantic drama, a sci-fi thriller, and an action movie –but above all else it is a movie about humanity and morality. In fact, the first part of the movie feels a little like Cast Away as our leads come to grips with being the only people around, and it’s then the movie explores its depths.
Jennifer Lawrence may be the top billed actor but this movie is all about Chris Pratt and his character.
In a movie with only two humans, your two leads better be strong and Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence prove themselves worthy. At this point there should be no doubt that Academy Award winner Jennifer Lawrence is going to be great in a movie. She is one of the most compelling actresses out there and can display a wide range of emotions. If that isn’t enough, she also manages to become more attractive the sweatier and bloodier she gets –or maybe I just have a Hunger Games thing going on, I’m not sure.
But for this movie to work Chris Pratt needs to be likable, REALLY likable, because his character does some evil things in order to survive. Whether you like the movie or not may rest entirely on the performance of Chris Pratt and I think he nails it. There is nothing this guy can do that won’t make you smile. His performances in Parks and Rec, Guardians, and even The Magnificent Seven embolden the people around him and his on-screen presence knows no bounds. When I realized what his character was going to do early in the movie I recoiled, but it was his performance that enables the audience’s empathy.
This movie is the opposite of Star Wars; in fact it feels more like an episode of Star Trek. The story deals more with issues of morality and technology than it does bad guys in capes. Of course there are explosions and exceptional CGI work, but the themes of the movie could work well with a smaller budget and unknown actors, as long as those actors could make the leads almost impossibly likeable. Passengers makes a bold decision in its storytelling and with so many other by-the-book movies out there it is always a pleasant surprise when someone takes a chance. B
But for this movie to work Chris Pratt needs to be likable, REALLY likable, because his character does some evil things in order to survive. Whether you like the movie or not may rest entirely on the performance of Chris Pratt and I think he nails it. There is nothing this guy can do that won’t make you smile. His performances in Parks and Rec, Guardians, and even The Magnificent Seven embolden the people around him and his on-screen presence knows no bounds. When I realized what his character was going to do early in the movie I recoiled, but it was his performance that enables the audience’s empathy.
This movie is the opposite of Star Wars; in fact it feels more like an episode of Star Trek. The story deals more with issues of morality and technology than it does bad guys in capes. Of course there are explosions and exceptional CGI work, but the themes of the movie could work well with a smaller budget and unknown actors, as long as those actors could make the leads almost impossibly likeable. Passengers makes a bold decision in its storytelling and with so many other by-the-book movies out there it is always a pleasant surprise when someone takes a chance. B
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