Passengers (January 2017)

Official Australian release date: 1/1/17. Viewed: 3/1/17.

Director: Morten Tyldum

Actors: Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Sheen, Laurence Fishburne

Genre: Sci-Fi / Adventure

Rating: M

‘Passengers’ is an interesting sci-fi film, in that it doesn’t involve aliens in any way! It has more in common with ‘WALL-E’, than it does with ‘Alien’ or ‘Event Horizon’, as it follows the spaceship Avalon (cool helix design, basically a giant cruise ship) on its way to Homestead II, starting a new colony 120 years from Earth. It’s approximately 30min of ‘Cast Away’ (man trapped alone), 45min of love story and then 40min of ‘Deepwater Horizon’ (survival film)! No time period is given, but I assume it’s ~100 years in the future.

What works well is the casting – two boring people could not sustain this film, but by casting Hollywood’s two best & brightest, it works wonders. Jim (Pratt) is accidentally awoken from his hibernation 90 years early and tries everything to get back to sleep and/or find a solution. Because he’s a passenger and not crew, his options are limited. Eventually, Jim wakes up Aurora (Lawrence), which is handled well, and the two of them falling in love is as interesting as the shots of the galaxy outside the windows. Arthur (Sheen) as the android bartender is also a nice touch. The only other person to get some screen time near the end is Gus (Fishburne), who finally figures out what’s wrong and kick-starts the final stanza.

It’s not hard to watch when you have Jennifer Lawrence is a pool – but as well as being extremely attractive, it helps that both her and Pratt are very charismatic and able to carry out the tender moments and the exciting ones. The shots of the ship in motion and the galaxy in the background are fantastic, and while a bit of it is predictable, it’s a decent ride. Solid ending too.

Overall: Not quite a sci-fi classic, but good fun.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.