Galaxy-crossed lovers

Rating: 8/10 (17 January 2017)

The critics have been a tad underwhelmed by this space opera, but I liked it. It's a love story with a few echoes of 2013's GRAVITY, including seriously stunning CGI, but there is better chemistry between Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt than there was between Sandra Bullock and George Clooney.
There's not a lot of plot: Chris and Jennifer wake from hibernation 80 years earlier than they should do on their universe-crossing starship and then have to cope with mechanical problems that threaten the vessel's survival. The pace is a bit slow until things start to go wrong with the nuclear reactor and with Michael Sheen, an android barman whom I found more than a little tiresome. The 'epilogue' is cringe-making but kinda charming.
A part of me kept hoping for something out of the ALIEN franchise to bust in and liven things up, but no, this is just a slightly soppy story about a pair of galaxy-crossed lovers and – I'll say it again – I liked it.