Afraid to be simple

Rating: 5/10 (12 March 2017)

I didn't see the trailer of the movie up until writing this review. So I decided to look the movie based on reading the story line. So I didn't know it will turn into a semi-disaster movie.
The premise is very good. It's quite original and sets a stage for inquiries into ethics, relations, meaning of life, happiness and loneliness. Enveloped in science fiction combines good special effects and some really cool ideas (like the pool with a view to the stars).
I liked the choice of the leads. Especially the female lead, since she had to be sexy. Generally, a very good job of portraying the emotions.
Unfortunately, things started to take the wrong turn with the appearance of Laurence Fishburne's character. When philosophical questions were replaced by technical malfunctions that made little sense and that I just didn't care about. And questions of ethics and the perception of happiness were substituted by the usual hero type of actions that introduce stupidity and deteriorate the whole experience.
Eventually 'Passengers' stayed very shallow on its initial premise and didn't explore any of the vast number of interesting possibilities it could have been. Seems to be the usual case of Hollywood compromising good story for special effects to draw the audience. Considering the lead actors involved, its' quite a shame they needed that. When it comes to numbers, the studios may be right. But I fail to see it wins lots of hearts.