Fairly Forgettable

Rating: 6/10 (29 December 2016)

This film is OK. For me its too polished and is essentially pretty shallow. The basketball scenes were so obvious that it was painful to watch. The two leads are also far too pretty, perfect and polished to be believable. Chris Pratt seems to be starring in a number of generic, shallow films with Jurassic Park and Magnificent 7. Pity, as he was really great in Guardians of the Galaxy. Jennifer Lawrence hasn't been in a film Iv'e liked since the first Hunger Games. She's stunningly beautiful but really quite boring in this.
The films sets up an interesting story and the opening 30 minutes are riveting. I liked the moral dilemma Pratt was forced to confront, aloneness or to live selfishly with a companion. Things could have got much more interesting had they gone darker, but instead it all goes a little bit too idealistic and sweet, and begins to drag as it dolefully plays out to its inevitable and obvious finale. Lawrence seems to forgive Pratt far too easily, once again underlining how shallow this film is at times. They wonder around the ship hand in hand sipping drinks and going for meals. Really?
Passengers isn't too bad, there are many worse blockbusters, Its just that its very forgettable. Perhaps Christmas is a good time for release. "Nice" films ordinarily get released around Christmas and this one unfortunately falls into that category.