Definition of Script Problems

Rating: 4/10 (10 April 2017)

In all science fiction, suspension of disbelief is required to become engaged in the story. However, what the writers of Passengers fail to realize is that suspension of disbelief applies to technology, not human stupidity. The audience can overlook warp drive, ray guns, transporters, etc., but what can't be overlooked is a total lack of common sense in using this technology. There were many opportunities for interesting story lines, but Passengers attempts to patch plot holes that don't work instead of exploring concepts that do.
The story centers around a star ship with 5000 passengers and over 200 crew members placed in hibernation for a 120 year trip to another star system to colonize another planet. This part of the story is plausible and even thought provoking. Even the ship itself is based on realistic designs. The science behind this background is sound. The ship is traveling at half the speed of light to a star system 60 light years away for a 120 year trip. Passengers are placed in hibernation to make the trip. So far all of this works and is interesting, but this is about a 5 minute background setting. After that things fall apart. Two passengers are accidentally awoken 90 years too early and face death from old age out in the void of space before reaching a destination. To make this plot work, the unbelievable is required. First, no one is watching the ship, not even automation. If this was a real ship, when an anomaly is detected the crew would be awoken to take care of the problem and put back into hibernation even if they do not take shifts over the century long trip. Second, there is no way to get a person back into hibernation in any way whatsoever. On a trip like this, that disbelief cannot be suspended, because it is too absurd to imagine. There are other things about this story that cannot be disbelieved, but the ones I have mentioned make this plot fall apart.
One aspect that is interesting, but not properly explored is the reference to The Shining that dominates the movie. When this reference is first introduced the parallels to the insanity that develops from isolation or even possibly a haunted ship were obvious and the prospect exciting. However, the movie does not explore this and the reference is relegated to a running joke. Unfortunate.
The setup of the plot has so many possibilities, but you will end this movie realizing that it is a classic example of a problem script that piles on the increasingly absurd and unbelievable in an attempt to cover the holes.