doesn't fulfil its promise

Rating: 5/10 (5 January 2017)

The first half of this movie is excellent. It takes its time to place its co-protagonist Jim Preston at a point where he has to make a fascinating choice, and then plays through the consequences of that choice on his relationship with sister-protagonist Aurora Lane. The roles are played by two perfectly-cast actors, Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence, whose enjoyment in each others charms and talents is a delight to watch. They are joined by Michael Sheen for a number of gently comic scenes set in a bar that comes straight out of Kubrick's THE SHINING. Gradually the references to other movies start to accumulate. 2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY, ALIEN, SILENT RUNNING and GRAVITY all make appearances. By the time it's done, the screenplay has lost whatever originality it had and turned into yet another piece of Hollywood sci-fi hackwork. What a pity.
That aside, I was pleasantly surprised by Chris Pratt's range as an actor, as demonstrated in the first act of this movie. I hope he gets another chance to show the extent of his acting skills in a film that doesn't peter out.