Beautifully shot, well made, extremely engrossing - surely a contender for Best Production Design?

Rating: 7/10 (4 January 2017)

Passengers - another film that in my view seems to be getting a bit of an unfair kicking from the press, so I am pleased to see many others like myself agree this is a great film. It certainly deserves to be, stuck as it has been in development hell for several years with different actors and directors coming and going.
Its the future (You know, the place you want to live in yourself one day, but sadly ain't going to be around for...) and we're on board the Starship Avalon, a vessel owned by the Homestead Corporation who makes billions of dollars transporting Colonists to new worlds (Don't tell Trump it will give him ideas) around the galaxy and plan do so with the 5000 colonists on board here. The ship is automated and everyone is in hyper sleep including the crew. (A bit like flying on Ryan Air) Everyone will only awaken when the ship is one month out from the destination but unfortunately a large asteroid storm does some damage to the vessel and a pod activates early belonging to young Jim Peston (Pratt, probably his best performance yet) a lowly mechanic who can only access the cheap meals option at the breakfast canteen and has the low budget accommodations (Air BnB) options on board. When Jim realises he has woken 90 years early and cannot wake any other crew who are behind a security sealed door he knows he will die on the ship alone. A year passes before he considers an alternative way of living. His only other company is a bar serving agreeable talking Android called Arthur (Michael Sheen on perfect form as always) In time Jim comes to know the biographies of his fellow passengers and one in particular, a writer not uneasy on the eye, Aurora (Lawrence) gets his attention. Jim learns everything about her from her own diaries and discovers she plans to write a book about her journey to the new world. Jim soon learns he has the ability to wake other passengers up and is faced with a dilemma, wake the girl of his dreams so he is not cosigned to his fate alone or die lonely in space before ever reaching his destination. I guess he could have searched for someone with really good computer skills so he could find the code for that door and wake up the crew, but sadly this thought escapes him or perhaps the new world has no computers?
Passengers had me gripped from the word go, from its sleek production design to Pratt's restrained but charming performance there was much to enjoy here. The ship and the dilemma facing Jim seemed all too believable. It felt as though this was the sort of thing one could experience while trying to correct your mobile phone provider and eventually your forced to make a difficult decision. It would not be the first time in history man kind had paid for the choice of cost effectiveness over safety simply because nothing had gone wrong in the past (Like no staff in your cinema screen to tell that bloody girl to get off her mobile phone) but this aside it is the crux of the morale dilemma that faced Jim Preston that really made the film great. I found myself asking how would I deal with the same situation? This is what Passengers asks of you. Jennifer Lawrence is on fine form in the film as well in the role of Aurora and Sheen adds an appropriate level of humour in his role as the dumb waiter of the piece but it is Chris Pratt who really stole the film for me. An actor normally associated with comical quips and nods to camera for Parks and Recreation he really shows his emotional depths and range here.
As the characters deal with the additional problems facing them, other dilemmas present themselves and again I found myself asking the same questions as were asked of the characters as the story progressed. This is a sure sign of both clever writing and film making.
Another mention must also go to the outstanding production design. Certainly there is some use of CGI here, but the sets and the CGI design of the star ship are simply incredible and blend perfectly together. The Avalon felt like a real ship that must be out there somewhere. Everything seemed so real and the space walk scenes were as dramatically tense as one would expect the real thing to be.
I really enjoyed this film and as others have stated it is suitable for those of all ages though the younger children may find it a little wanting due to lack of action but I was rarely if ever bored.
Lawrence Fishburne has a nice cameo in the film, but to explain who or how would be to give a spoiler away. I thought this film would benefit too from being seen on the big screen and I was right. The vastness of the empty locations of the ghostly star ship are very much enhanced by the cinema experience.
My compliments to the whole team on this production. The price tag for the film seemed a little on the high side but it certainly looks the part and the cast gave it there all (So they should for 50K a minute)
Recommended.