Contrived, predictable, and boring

Rating: 4/10 (11 April 2019)

Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) awakens from hibernation 30 years into a 120 year interstellar journey. Lonely, he decides to awaken Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence) over whom he has begun to obsess. After some angst, the two of them enjoy life in their starship Hilton until a cascade of ever-worsening glitches starts to impact their idyllic existence. Ignore the apologists who are 'correcting' goofs, this film is so full of plot holes that it might as well be an adolescent's 'hot chick and a star ship' fantasy. The entire plot hangs on a series of convenient but implausible situations: no one is supposed to be awake, but every passenger service in the ship is up and running when Preston's pod fails: the ship carries all the necessary spare parts (at least those needed to advance the plot), but despite damage and failing systems, doesn't awaken a repair team; there are 5000 passengers but only one 'autodoc' (and one bar tender), etc. The entire story revolves around Jim and Aurora, but neither the actors nor their characters are very engaging or interesting, the script is trite, and the 'race against time' climax is formulaic, predictable, and entirely unconvincing. The special effects and 'sets' are spectacular (even if the physics is a bit shaky) but they're wasted buttressing up an insipid story. The film has been likened to "Titanic" (1997) and will likely be enjoyed by people who preferred the 'Rose and Jack' story to the 'sinking ship' story.