Passengers

Rating: 5/10 (7 February 2017)

As I have probably mentioned on this blog previously I am always sceptical of a new release that has been marketed very heavily in the media. Heavy marketing campaigns can create an audience for a title that does not have a clear target market when produced. Such campaigns can also be used to cover up inevitable critical disdain towards the title. As I had found myself bombarded with Passengers posters and adverts throughout London tube stations and bus stops I assumed the latter was soon to unfold when I sat down in the cinema last week.
Admittedly Passengers is a marketers dream as it stars Chris (he's so hot right now) Pratt & Jennifer (she's so hot right now) Lawrence. They are both playing characters stranded aboard the "Avalon"; a space ship travelling to a new world that the human race intend to colonise. Something goes wrong aboard the ship and both stars are woken up from their hyper sleep 100 years too early.
The title starts out promisingly as we first follow Chris Pratt's character Jim Preston; an engineer who wakes from hyper sleep over a year before Jennifer Lawrence's character Aurora. The first half of the title is more or less a one-man show as we follow Jim wandering the ship alone struggling to survive. This first act of the film manages to hit the highs of other sci-fi isolation titles such as I Am Legend & Moon. I was beginning to think my initial impressions of the title were going to be proved wrong. This first act is a funny, heart-warming and heart-breaking depiction of how a man would react in such a situation and Chris Pratt wonderfully encapsulates all of the emotions an individual would go through.
Unfortunately this film begins to descend into mediocrity as soon as Jennifer Lawrence enters the scene. This is not the strong, independent woman that she has become know for in Silver Linings Playbook or even the Hunger Games. Her character Aurora is supposedly and journalist back on earth but her profession does not have any bearing on the way she behaves. What is most damaging is that her character is integral to the 'twist' of the movie but due to her nondescript and undeveloped motives the entire concept of this title simply doesn't work. Admittedly this is a fault of the writer not the actress herself but I was left very disappointed that they were unable to utilise the talents of one of the most sought after actresses in the industry.
This is certainly not the disaster I was expecting when I walked into the cinema and it does have its merits. It does enough to satisfy but ultimately falls short of leaving a lasting impression. Having seen this title I have come to the conclusion that it was heavily marketed as a 'safe' box office hit based on the star power it boasted. Maybe I need to stop being such a smart arse and try to watch films without judging them based on the way they are marketed.....
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