Passengers

This review may contain spoilers!

It's a pretty good and unique sci-fi until the story gets hijacked by a rather creepy plot twist. I would give Passengers a 6.5/10.

The one this film starts is exceptionally promising; we're introduced to a world where intergalatic colonialism is ruled by a corporate entity who has passengers pay for a trip to the outlying colonies of Earth where they shall begin their 'new' lives. Watching Jim first awaken and interact with this spaceship setting is very cool, but also heightens the drama by showing how depressed he becomes the more time he spends alone. If there's one thing I have to say for this film it's that all of the characters felt very real in terms of their reactions; Jim's reasoning for removing Aurora from hibernation makes sense and likewise Aurora's blind rage upon discovering the truth of this is satisfying to watch. The cinematography is great, often framing wide so as to take in every detail of this futuristic environment. The special effects make this film a visual beauty; I thought the detail in how they crafted space, the Avalon and the zero gravity water was superb. The soundtrack played a small role in this film but lent itself well, while the score brought a sense of wonder and intrigue to many of the scenes.

Jennifer Lawrence, who played Aurora Lane, really does her best work when she embodies the research aspect of her character - her intensity and drive as a writer makes her interesting; Lawrence really steals the show when she presents her character's all too real fury after finding out Pratt's character woke her up out of stasis. Chris Pratt, who played Jim Preston, was a really charismatic and likeable protagonist when we first meet him; Pratt also brings a deeper dimension to his character when we start to see how he desperate and lonely he becomes after being woken up from his pod. Laurence Fishburne, who played Gus Mancuso, was a very stern and by the books crew member in this film; I liked how Fishburne drove past his pain in an effort to save the ship and crew.

However the best performance came from Michael Sheen, who played Arthur. Sheen had to play quite a neutral mannered role, in which we were given a stereotypical bartender performance with the quirk that he is an android. I found Sheen's line delivery to be both witty and charming, it's no wonder he fooled Pratt's role into thinking he was a person at first. There was a great deal of insight from this character throughout the film and Sheen provides a kindly, wise touch that really does make him the bartender you can trust with all your secrets.

At the start of this film an accident causes Jim to wake up early and eventually he gets so lonely that he decides to wake up Aurora, essentially robbing her of her potential future life in favour of his own state of mind. It's a really jarring twist and means that the film never really quite finds the perfect tone it had again, this is partly because you struggle to like Jim anymore but also because the film wastes a ridiculous amount of time trying to redeem him in the eyes of the viewer. This could have been avoided if Jim had attempted to slect from a few different individuals and then settled on Aurora so that we see he craved human companionship as opposed to becoming fixated on a single strange woman. The final act of the film dials things up to eleven with the whole ship and the remaining passengers' lives at stake, it's a very sudden escalation. Yet rather than be an exciting conclusion it feels like a final push to make Jim a redeemed character, heck they even kill him off three times to drum in the point. Over all the film started off well but struggled after blackening the tone of the film with a questionable direction in the plot.

Julee Cerda and Emma Clarke, who played the Instructor (Hologram) and the voice of The Starship Avalon, didn't really have much to add in terms of their presence in the film; these were ultimately quite monotonous characters who failed to stand out in the same way that Sheen did.