Need some eye candy this weekend? Travel into space with Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt in “Passengers.”
Passengers (Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Sheen, Laurence Fishburne) – Passengers is a traditional science fiction, space flick in three acts complete with great special effects and a pre-ordained ending. The fact that it stars two of the hottest young actors in Hollywood, Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence, helps because, without the star power, Passengers would just be another big budget episode of Star Trek.
The premise here is that 5,000 Earthlings want to try life on an idyllic planet in a galaxy far far away. Since it takes a century or so to get there, all of the passengers and crew are hermetically sealed in hibernation chambers not to be awakened until four months before reaching their destination. The ship is fantastically futuristic with spectacular views, really cool displays, and all of the comforts of a five-star cruise ship (apparently only to be used for four months).
Pratt plays Jim Preston, a mechanic by trade. Act I opens when Jim is awakened 90 years too early. He spends a lonely, frustrating year trying unsuccessfully to figure out how to get back to perma-sleep. His only companion is an android named Arthur (Michael Sheen), who tends bar in the lounge. Finally giving up, Jim contemplates suicide.
Act II introduces us to Sleeping Beauty, Aurora Lane (Jen), a journalist and fellow passenger whose file Jim accesses after watching her sleeping in her hibernation chamber. Voyeurism is underrated in space, I guess. Preston deals with the moral dilemma of whether to wake her up to meet his own selfish needs or let he sleep. Ultimately, he decides to awaken here, thus dooming her to death in the vastness of space. This second act is a love story based on an immoral premise. At least Jim and Aurora will die happily ever lonely. Well, maybe.
Just as we’re starting to get bored, Act III arrives. The ship is in trouble. Foreshadowed little problems become critical mission failures just as a third character arrives, Capt. Gus Mancuso. Laurence Fishburne plays Gus, the guy with the keys to the bridge, engineering and other crucial technical areas. The trio needs to save the ship. Thank goodness Jim is a mechanic! This last Act is all action all the time. Can the triple threat save the ship or are the sleeping passengers and crew doomed?
Passengers is fine holiday entertainment. Its two stars are fun to watch and look great, too. In fact, their fantastic wardrobes are totally outrageous (after all, who doesn’t take designer clothes that won’t disintegrate after a century of travel)? The music is appropriately futuristic. The hundreds of animators and computer graphic artists make sure that the special effects are indeed “special.”
I was sufficiently entertained but not blown away … even if the passengers might be.