Passengers: Movie Review

It’s been a long time, between a hectic end of semester and Christmas break at home (where I never get anything done, even when all I set for myself was to learn the Latin Mass parts for the server) I just haven’t had time to write anything.  So I’m back, at least for now.

I finally got to see Passengers.  This was a movie I was very much looking forward to, even despite the poor reviews.  I was hooked from the trailers: a relatively new concept for science fiction (though similar to a story I had thought about for the past decade or so), two of my favorite actors, and sleek-looking trailers.  I wanted the movie to be good, though tempered after the aforementioned reviews.

To put it simple, I thought it was…not bad.  Let me start with some of the positives.  (Spoilers follow)

As would be expected, the acting was quite good.  Chris Pratt has proven to be able to do just about anything.  He was believable as a man stuck by himself in his desperation.  Jennifer Lawrence was also quite good, though somewhat going through the motions.  In other words, she was more Hunger Games and less Silver Linings Playbook.  That being said, I bought their relationship.

It was also a very good looking movie.  The special effects were very good, especially the water bubble when they lose gravity and the star as they fly by.  I also really liked the look of the ship, it was pretty different from what we’re used to.

As would be expected, Thomas Newman brings the goods, though as at least one review stated it was mixed a little loud at times.  We’re moving into the good-bad parts of the movie.

The tempo was a little off.  This is something that I will get into more after the review, but there were aspects that I would really have liked them to deal with more.  For instance, there is a huge ethical dilemma in the movie. Chris Pratt is so isolated he nearly kills himself.  I can buy that.  He stumbles upon a girl who attracts him, and he “falls in love” with her.  All good.  Then you have the huge ethical dilemma: go crazy by himself or doom someone else to die by waking them up?  They deal with it a little, but not nearly as much as it needed to be.  That being said, I thought Pratt did a great job of expressing the inner turmoil, especially after she wakes up, until she finally says “thank you.”

There are always the problems of convenience.  It’s a good thing he’s a mechanical engineer, so he can fix things.  It’s a good thing the one crew member wakes up so he can help them just when they need it.  Again, I know in each movie there will be conveniences, this just got to me a little bit.

There’s also the bad science.  Hearing the space collisions at the beginning of the movie, especially after Gravity did it so well a few years ago, was a bit disappointing.  Then there’s the whole “death and resurrection” of Pratt at the end.  The science was overall a little too Hollywood.

There’s also the stakes.  You don’t every really feel worried about them.  The trailers told you pretty much everything that’s going to happen, so no surprises.  It’s all a bit paint-by-numbers, which is disappointing especially after we’ve seen a slate of good science fiction movies in recent years with similar themes (Moon, Gravity, Interstellar, etc).  I just expected more.

So, in the end I think it’s good, but had the potential to be so much more.  There’s nothing really “bad” about it, but it also doesn’t really stand out.  I’d give it a 7 out of 10.

Now, as I was driving from the theatre thinking about it, I think I figured out how it could have been much better.  In effect, there was too much story for a two hour movie.  It really should have been a television event, like an 8-10 episode series like Stranger Things or something.  Here’s how I would envision it:

The pilot sets up the whole story.  It’s basically the first half of the first act of the movie.  The Avalon is travelling in space, something happens, and Pratt wakes up.  The rest of the episode is him trying to figure out what went wrong.  It ends with the bartender telling him to live a little.

The second episode is him living a little.  It gives you (and him) time to explore the place.  But it also shows how tedious it all is, how even in the fun he feels the isolation.  End with his spacewalk and near suicide.

The third episode introduces Aurora.  One day she’s just all of a sudden there as Pratt is walking around the station (the original screenplay had the reveal of him waking her up in the final act-which would have been much better).  He is cautiously happy to have a companion, while she is going through all of the problems he had in the first couple of episodes.  He helps her realize more quickly that they’re in it together.

The fourth episode is the relationship episode.  They fall in love with each other and everything is great.  It ends with some kind of problem on the ship.

The fifth episode is them working together to temporarily fix whatever is wrong, but realize it’s just a patch.  This episode ends with the big reveal that he woke her up.  Just when things seem bright, they get darker and darker.

The sixth episode is their estrangement.  It really gives time to explore both sides of the moral dilemma.  Why did he do it?  How does she respond?  This is probably the most interesting episode.

The seventh episode introduces the crew member.  He’s not going to be just a convenience; he’s going to stick around a little while.  A third wheel, making their relationship even more strained.  Meanwhile the ship is in it bad.  Things are failing all over.  Basically this is the first half of the final act of the movie.

The eighth episode resolves the problem.  They have to work together, maybe the crew member dies in the accident (not because of health problems, something dramatic), and Aurora realizes she cannot go it alone.  The thing is, she needs him more out of human necessity, not the new found love as in the movie.  They fix the ship, but there is still tension.  They should not be in love with each other in the end, but more stuck in this thing together.  That’s more realistic.  End on a semi-happy survival note.

Then it could be really interesting to see more of what happens.  I would love another season or more, but I think it would be cool if future seasons were a mix between the two on the ship and the future on Homestead II.  Someone is reading her story (so their timeline is flashbacks) as they are settling the new world.  That would really expand the whole story and make it more compelling.  Anyways, I know this isn’t going to happen, but I still think it would be interesting.

I think that’s enough on Passengers for now.  Next I need to see Rogue One again so I can properly rank the Star Wars movies as they currently stand.