Passengers (2016) Review

A spacecraft which is travelling to a distant new colony planet has 5000 passengers as well as hundreds of crew. It takes 120 years to get there and everyone is due to wake up a few weeks before. But when Jim Preston wakes up with 90 years to go something has gone very wrong . . .

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 I was more than sick of seeing this trailer in the build up to the film being released, it was attached to everything for the past couple of months. I think the fact that the trailer makes it look like a slightly different type of film as well will add to the disappointment when you watch this one. It is by no means a Sci-Fi film or in that genre at all. The story just happens to take place in space.

When Jim Preston wakes up and pretty much assumes it was time to wake up that is the start of our story and journey with him. It is quite strange to see him all alone in such a huge place and be unsure what to actually do. No one else is awake and he must make do with a robot barman called Arthur as the only thing to talk to, although will it always be that way? He does come up with an idea after he sees Aurora and considering we all know Jennifer Lawrence is also in the film then it is not a surprise with what actually happens next.

Jim was all alone for just over a year before Aurora woke up and they slowly become close and fall in love with each other. That is the basis for the film a love story which is not really what I was initially expecting. The thing is though it’s not even a great or good love story, it is a forced love story which is actually rather creepy when you think about it. I don’t really think the chemistry with Lawrence and Pratt is very good either, which is why I think it becomes a struggle. Such a massive shame really as I am a huge fan of Lawrence and Pratt has certainly grown on me in recent years.

By the end I felt that I didn’t actually care about the point of the film in all honesty. The idea of people wanting to move to another planet to start again leaving behind everyone they have ever known who will all die as they travel the 120 years across space to build and start a new life. Quite a shame that this wasn’t highlighted more throughout the film, although I guess with only two characters we don’t get much of a chance to find out more different reasons from the other passengers.

We do get some space scenes as well though but mainly when something has gone wrong with the ship and it must be fixed in order for everyone else to stay alive. When you realise that the two characters who are awake are never actually going to make it to the final destination that is pretty sad. How would you manage to survive having a life then on a spacecraft? I think the film could have been so much more which is why I have been left underwhelmed and disappointed with the outcome, although Michael Sheen must be mentioned as a highlight in the scenes he is in. Even as a robot he is still so charming and brilliant!