A WORTHWHILE ESCAPE
Take a ride with Passengers
How much (or how little) you enjoy Passengers may depend on what genre you’re expecting. As a science-fiction story, it’s a clever, high-concept idea — in an unspecified future, an interstellar sleeper ship is auto-piloting 5,000 colonists on a 120-year journey to planet Homestead II. But 30 years into the voyage, passenger Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) wakes up from suspended animation and can’t get back to sleep.
As in last year’s The Martian, Jim is science-smart and tries to figure out what to do. Communication with Earth is out — even at light speed, a message will take decades to get there. And Jim’s only company is a robot bartender (Michael Sheen) who speaks only in bartender platitudes. Growing a beard and starting to resemble Sam Rockwell in Moon, Jim begins to lose his grip on reality.
Enter — or should that be awaken? — Jennifer Lawrence as fellow passenger Aurora Lane, when another hibernation pod pops up its occupant too soon. A journalist hoping to write about humanity’s newest planetary home, she is even more upset than he at the prospect of spending the rest of her life in deep space.
Of course, the two characters start to develop an affinity for one another, which is why you might want to consider this a romance — and why you might be disappointed. As a romance, Passengers leaves a lot to be desired. The chemistry is there, thanks to both actors’ easygoing charm. But Jim does something so egregious in the early going that it sours the relationship, and threatens to curdle the whole movie. Whether screenwriter Jon Spaihts (Prometheus, Doctor Strange) can win you back is a 50/50 prospect.
There’s much to enjoy from a technical side, beginning with the
beautiful design of the spaceship Avalon. From the outside, it’s a slowly spinning helical spindle; within, curvaceous corridors suggest a luxury cruise liner or high-end mall. Throw in some adorable vacuum-bots, and you may be reminded of the Axiom from 2008’s WALL-E — a likeness strengthened by the fact that Thomas Newman scored both films.
We’re never told what year it is, although whatever the date, it’s one where Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan remain popular musical choices. When they’re not trying to puzzle out the hibernation pods, Jim and Aurora spend their days playing video games, watching movies and eating sumptuous meals.
But gradually worsening technical failures suggest something is seriously wrong with the ship. If they don’t solve that puzzle, they may not die of old age after all. It may happen much sooner.
The Passengers screenplay has been in something of suspended animation itself. Written a decade ago, it was at one point set to star Keanu Reeves and Emily Blunt. (I know: Whoa.) And, full disclosure, I got hold of an early script several years back, and fell in love with the story. This final version ends on both a weaker and more sudden note than did the original screenplay. Passengers is also the latest film to reveal too much in its advertising: I haven’t offered spoilers here, but it may already be too late.
The film was directed by Norway’s Morten Tyldum, whose 2011 film Headhunters rightfully put him on Hollywood’s radar. His next project was The Imitation Game, which had eight Oscar nominations including best picture. This one is a flawed beast, but it gets enough things right to offer a worthwhile escape. My rating takes into account the fact that the writer and director are capable of better things.