Passengers takes place on the Spaceship Avalon, on its 120-year journey to a colony planet known as the “Homestead Colony” that is transporting 5,259 people. The ship has a malfunction in one of its sleep chambers. As a result, two hibernation pods open early and the two people that awake, Jim Preston played by Chris Pratt and Aurora Lane played by Jennifer Lawrence are stranded on the spaceship, still 90 years from their destination.

Passengers definitely wasn’t the Oscar contender most people thought it would be. It was more of a disappointment as it had so much potential to not only be a good sci-fi flick but to also be a great film. Starting of with the pros of the movie, the acting was great! Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt do a phenomenal job and had great chemistry. The special effects and set design were pretty cool too from the constantly rotating Avalon ship to the cafeteria inside of the ship. Those two things are pretty much the only good parts of the movie.

The first half worked fine as it set up the characters well and made us sympathize with them but as soon the story pulled me in, I immediatly got taken out as the writers seemed to jump off a cliff as the movie goes from a love story to a live or death situation while using most of the budget on special effects. The second half was such a tonal shift that I couldn’t help but take my mind off how blockbuster the movie came off and how confusing the tone and pacing of the movie had gotten by the end. The glitch in the ship causes the ship to turn against the characters and they are forced to fix it in a way that involves CGI and an attempt at trying to be dramatic. The pacing is the second glaring problem as 20 minutes into the movie there is a ripple in the pacing. Chris Pratt’s character has a moral dilemma which (SPOILER ALERT) has to do with choosing to live his life alone on the ship or waking someone up. The movie has a whole montage that last about 15-20 minutes that slows the movie down but also messes up the potential at a huge twist towards the end. Pratt’s character eventually wakes up Jennifer Lawrence’s character and this is where the problem comes in. The way I would arrange the movie is to save that part until the point where it is revealed to Lawrence’s character that she was woken up purposefully. This would have given the illusion to the audience that the ship malfunctioned again and woke her up. The reveal would be a shock to the audience and Lawrence’s character. Then the montage of Pratt’s character debating whether to wake her up or not could be shown in a quick flashback for as it hits like a truck emotionally to the audience and Lawrence’s character. I think what the montage was to make Pratt more likable instead of the audience totally hating him with the twist I suggested.

My rating may see terribly low but I didn’t despise the movie. The 1st half gives it some grace but as a movie the 2nd half weighs the movie down so much that the 1st can’t save it. I give Passengers a 5.9/10