Passengers (2 of 2)

Passengers (2 of 2)

I liked seeing this world where a huge cooperation has taken over space travel. This new style of space travel is now considered the wild west and a fresh start for people on new worlds/colonies. Everyone one is just trying to start anew for different reasons. However, it still takes a very long time to travel between planets, so everyone has to sleep in pods. That plays a huge factor into the overall plot. Pratt's character will be stuck alone on a huge starship. Will he go crazy?

It is a nice touch to see that there is a tier system to the luxuries on board the ship. Only the rich get certain varies of foods and drinks and access to certain areas is restricted to those that can't afford.  Lawrence has the money to get certain items, whereas Pratt has to break into things. That was a nice touch.

Michael Sheen plays an android that is a bartender. Sheen is great in the role, but he is in a limited role. Was the Android activated when Pratt's character was awakened? Or was he “always online”? Does he have real AI feelings? This isn't really explored that much and only hinted at. It should be noted he is programmed to listen to human problems and give advice too.

Now, the movie does take a turn where certain truths are revealed. While I like characters owning up to their mistakes, it still falls under cliché romance movie issues for me.

The movie does sort of switch gears toward the 20-minute mark and might turn some people off that were in it for a sci-fi mystery story. And, I found myself less interested in the love/friendship story aspect of the movie when it switches gears and pace than the first half.

The movie does take another turn when we find out the reasons behind the sudden activation of Pratt's pod. Another factor is introduced to the story, and it doesn't work that well other than the shock of seeing this other factor. I wasn't expecting this factor to appear, it just feels more like a re-wrote more than anything else.

-The notion of people giving up their old lives needed to be expanded upon.

-What about the AI programs and the other automated systems? Was there something else there? Or was it cut from the movie?

-The Dance-Dance Revolution program is a bit too much like that Michael Bay movie.

It feels like the movie is trying to cover a lot of ground but fails on some fronts due to its running time. I think this sort of story could have been properly handled as mini-series. The movie has some pacing issues in the middle but gets back on track in the third act.  Lawrence and Pratt are great, but the weak script sometimes makes their relationship seems a bit too cheesy and bland. There are other sci-fi elements that could have been explored but appears these elements were either thrown out or never fully realized. The FX is nice and the score works, yet the script is very weak. We needed more of everything.

Grade: C