Passengers - ★★✰✰

With an irresistible premise, Passengers had plenty of promise in the
first act that unfortunately fell short in the final. With stars like Chris
Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence, you know you are in good hands as they
travel through time and space. Visually this film it was compelling
without being too forceful and the score by Thomas Newman is
definitely something worth re-visiting.

Avalon is a starship that is on a 120-year journey to Homestead II with
5,000 passengers on board, sleeping soundly in their hibernation pods.
However, one man wakes up. That man is mechanical engineer, Jim
Preston (Chris Pratt). He is an average kind of character that now has
to face the possibility of spending an entirety of his lifetime stuck on
a ship travelling through space. So like any of us would do after trying
to enjoy what's left of his hollow life would do: go a bit mad. This is
even after befriending an android barman named Arthur (played
exceptionally well by Michael Sheen) who is full of witty quips to
resolve Mr Preston's hopelessly depressive situation.

About to launch himself into the void in a drunken, suicidal state, Jim
happens to stumble upon a starkly beautiful woman named Aurora
(Jennifer Lawrence) who is blissfully ignorant inside her hibernation
pod. Jim, clad in his boxers, stops to fixate rather creepily at her. He
decides to go through her files in full swing-stalker mode. After a moral
debate with himself, he goes and wakes her up, obviously. It's hard to
not feel sorry for Aurora who has just woken up to her doomed fate
with a man that's eagerly awaiting for her. It's not that Jim is a complete
psychopath, but let's face it, we wouldn't want to spend an eternity
with him either. Maybe they should have cast Ryan Gosling instead.

What's left is a rushed third act in which the only action happens far too
quickly. It is a clumsy conclusion that ends in a complete juxtaposition
with the overall feel of the film. This could have worked, but in this case
it didn't. Yes, the visuals are pretty to look at, and for a time we enjoyed
the two stars company on stage, but there isn't anything left to go by. By
far one of the more aesthetically pleasing films this year but also one of
the most disappointing.