A poorly-made spacebound blockbuster

Rating: 5/10 (3 January 2017)

From the beginning, I had low expectations of Passengers due to the swath of bad reviews emanated from multiple sources. However, I did find that the film excelled past this barrier only to find a steep cliff of mediocrity that it dove off near the middle of the movie. Featuring an all-star cast of Chris Pratt, J.Law, and Laurence Fishburne, here I will be delving into my thoughts about the new sci-fi film Passengers. On the 5,000 person-keeping ship the Avalon, Chris Pratt or "Jim Preston" finds himself awake 90 years earlier than the scheduled de-hibernation as the ship travels toward a new inhabitable planet. Within minutes, he finds that he is the only woke passenger on board. Shortly, Preston finds himself enjoying the luxuries of the ship having gotten past his anguish about the malfunction. However, he succumbs to loneliness quickly, as a robotic bartender and roombas that vacuum cheerios are unable to keep a man company. A big problem I had with the following moments of the movie was the complete and utter obstruction of a major plot point from the trailers released. Preston finds himself wandering the pod bay when he spots a beautiful young women in one of the hibernation pods. As a matter of fact, Jennifer Lawrence or "Aurora Lane" was woken by Preston, unlike how the plot had initially told she woke up at the same time as him. This sort of detail maneuver was only another sly way for Columbia Pictures to break into the box office. As the story progresses, not only does the plot lull, but it finds a cliché-y feel that was not present in the beginning. The main issue with Passengers is its inability to find real substance. When the main characters learn the ship is soon going to self implode, they are instantly knowledgeable of how to fix the problem. This takes essence in Chris Pratt, whose character's mechanical abilities seem to be that of superhuman. Well into the film, I lost most of my feelings for the characters due to the lack of honest development and interest. The romance between Preston and Lane ascends painstakingly quick and dissolves just as fast. Most of this was due to the completely deadbeat pace of the film, which surely progresses "slowly and steadily" but often suddenly escalates due to something needed to be accomplished. One thing that was to the benefit of the plot, however, were the astounding visual effects and cinematography, which are very well done by the studios at hand. There are gleaming shots of space, and brilliant CGI of the Avalon progressing through the void. Towards the end of the film, there are many turns which some would say are in the wrong direction. At points, the grandeur of the issues at hand are laughable in the way they are portrayed. Overall, Passengers combines many awkward cliché notions with a sloppy plot to become a lackluster sci-fi film for the end of the year.
5/10