A Moral Dilemma in Outer Space

Rating: Null/10 (21 March 2017)

In the bonus segment of the DVD version of "Passengers," we learn that the visual concept of the space ship Avalon was inspired by the Titanic. Both the outer and inner world of the Avalon have the look and feel of a luxury cruise ship. But the grand sets and special effects are not the most memorable part of "Passengers," a film that focuses on a fascinating ethical dilemma.
Jennifer Lawrence as Aurora and Chris Pratt as Jim are two rather ordinary humans who have sought adventure in a futuristic world by undergoing a 100-year period of "hibernation" aboard the spaceship Avalon en route to a new world. Jim wants to build a new home of the faraway planet; Aurora is a journalist who wants to return with a first-hand account of the adventure.
The plan of these young people is disrupted when a meteor damages the spaceship resulting in the malfunction of the hibernation pod of Jim. When he is released from his capsule, he now must endure eighty years of travel to his new home. After a year of desperation and loneliness, he breaks open Aurora's pod in order to have a companion. The moral question that is raised in the film is whether or not he committed "murder" by consciously opening the pod.
One of most fascinating moments of the film is when a crew technician, whose pod has also malfunctioned, learns that Jim had tampered with another passenger's life. The reaction of Gus (Laurence Fishburne) is both priceless and humane.
The fourth character in this drama is the robotic bartender played with deadpan British humor by Michael Sheen. It is remarkable that so much interest was sustained in a two-hour film by only four actors. In the end, the human drama, as opposed to the fancy sets, is what made "Passengers" a special film.