Morten Tyldum's “PASSENGERS”

A Movie Review by Dennis D. McDonald

Passengers is a glitzy bunch of missed opportunities.

I had read all the negative reviews but was drawn (suckered?) into renting this gorgeously produced snooze fest because I love science fiction and space travel movies. 

The story is potentially intriguing. Two young travelers (played by Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence) are awakened from hibernation 90 years too soon while on a malfunctioning star ship. Unable to re-enter hibernation to be with the other 5,000 sleeping passengers, they fall in love. The ship continues to deteriorate. They contemplate never reaching their destination while spending the rest of their lives in space. Things go from bad to worse for them and the ship.

I'm told that Pratt and Lawrence are the hottest young stars around. While that may be true I have been consistently disappointed with them. Lawrence basically walked through the last couple of Hunger Games movies. Pratt attempts unsuccessfully to break away from his wisecracking-but-charming rogue persona. Their "chemistry" in this movie feels forced and by-the-book. By the time they finally hook up we're already fidgeting and looking beyond the anticlimax.

There are some interesting points. While the shopping-mall-in-space setting was done more imaginatively and grandly in Wall-E, the sets here are indeed gorgeous to look at. The zero-gravity swimming pool incident is impressive. The space suits are cool. But the plot holes are numerous and the last third of the movie feels contrived and TV-show-like. 

When all is said and done, Passengers consists of a series of glitzy but missed opportunities. It's fun to watch but ultimately disappointing.

Review copyright (c) 2017 by Dennis D. McDonald. Scroll down for more reviews.