Definitely worth seeing

Rating: 10/10 (29 December 2016)

"Passengers" takes place on a spaceship, travelling for 120 years, at half the speed of light, to a new planet. Before criticising the science, think of how far our knowledge and technology have advanced in the last hundred or thousand years ; and extrapolate that forward, to whenever the movie is supposed to be set. Imagine Shakespeare's company performing Titanic, The Longest Day, or Apollo 13 ; and how the critics of his day would have panned the implausible science. Either put your scepticism aside, or let it spoil your enjoyment.
When Jim is woken from hibernation, 90 years before reaching their destination, he is certain to be dead before they arrive. Faced with a lifetime of solitary confinement, he contemplates suicide, but can't go through with it ; so instead considers waking one of the other passengers. To all the critics and posters who say he did the wrong thing, try to imagine his position ; not only no physical contact with friends, but no messages, and not even the interaction with guards that a prisoner has. This article gives an insight : http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/03/30/hellhole Even if we, in our socially-rich circumstances, think he should have accepted his fate ; we should at least recognise he had "diminished responsibility" when he made the choice.
Waking Aurora doesn't condemn her to the same fate of solitude, but instead to a lifetime with someone she might not have chosen, in a place she might not have chosen ; bad, but nowhere near as bad. Having forced her into a new life plan, he then sets about trying to make the best of it ; to make her time with him so good, that if she could wind back the clock, she would have made the choice that he made for her. Perhaps that is the only possible way, to measure if he atoned for his action.
The way the two main characters interact, is very engaging ; and there is enough action and danger to spice up what is otherwise "just" a love story.
BIG SPOILER BELOW
If you prefer an unhappy ending, as you are leaving the theatre, trip over and fall flat on your face.