Not as bad as the critics say

Rating: 7/10 (9 March 2017)

Passengers stars Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence, they along with 5,000 others are currently en route to inhabit Planet Homestead II. Suddenly the corkscrewing vessel goes through an asteroid field shorting out his cryo-pod and waking him too early. He becomes distraught to discover he's got 90 years left of his journey. He eventually accepts his fate, but after a while he gets lonely to the brink of suicide. So after browsing through her video blogs, he decides to wake up Aurora played by Lawrence. Gradually as the film goes on they start falling for each other and by this point, it does start to feel like Titanic in space.
Director Morten Tyldum does his best with Prometheus' John Spaihts script (which was on Hollywoods Blacklist for 10 years) He keeps the film eerie and atmospheric with the sterile lighting of the interior, and the sometimes haunting music score by Thomas Newman. It tones down on the overused comedic acting we are so accustomed to from the two lead actors, especially Pratt. There is some good chemistry between the two leads and the visual effects look great.
However It does have its flaws, one being the fact that it lacks originality. It doesn't quite reach the tension levels of the films it's inspired by from Moon, The Shinning and Alien just to name a few. Martin Sheens android has a scene where he malfunctions which is very reminiscent to Alien. The obvious one of course is 2001: A Space Odyssey, from the rotating corridors and the overall set designs. The first half is great, the middle section is okay and the third act falls flat leaving you waiting for more as it wraps up too suddenly. Overall Passengers is a good way to pass 2 hours of your time.