"You can't get so hung up on where you'd rather be, that you forget to make the most of where you are."
-Aurora Lane
Passengers is the story of humanity moving from Earth to a series of planets in another solar system to start a new life and have a second chance. On the massive Arc Ship Avalon, about halfway through the two hundred year journey, Jim Preston's (Pratt) hibernation pod malfunctions and wakes him up with 90 years to go. After spending some time alone and falling in love with author Aurora Lane (Lawrence) in a hibernation pod, he must make a decision that will not only alter the course of his own life, but others as well. Let's just hope his hibernation pod was the only thing to malfunction on the ship.
First of all, there are scientific fallacies in this film. It comes with the territory. Huge Hollywood movie with A-List stars and great special effects? Yeah, they're not really looking for scientific plausibility here. That aside, this was a very enjoyable movie. The humanity presented in this feature was very well done, and all things considered, makes up for the lack of science.
The fact that Lawrence's character is named Aurora is either an amazing coincidence, or very cheeky writing. Aurora is not only a beautiful phenomenon that happens in Earth's atmosphere but the name of one of Disney's earliest princesses from the film Sleeping Beauty (1959). That was a clever choice of writing.
The best scene in this film was when Jim decides to enjoy himself on the ship and do whatever he pleases. You see a man with childlike enthusiasm go from frolicking all over the ship doing whatever his heart desires, to slowly realizing what a true lifetime of loneliness means. Which takes him to the crossroads where he must make a decision to end his suffering, or end his loneliness. There's a moment in the airlock chamber that'll really make you think about what you would do in that situation.
Parts of the story could have been fleshed out a bit. Perhaps have Laurence Fishburne's character involved more. Or show us an extended look on the conflict between Jim and Aurora throughout the adventure. It would have been great seeing a little more in the epilogue as well.
The effects are amazing. The star they pass, the spacewalks, and the zero gravity pool were all top notch. The android bartender was a great addition. It really sold the whole "You're alone on this interstellar cruise ship and this is your own personal Shining" sort of vibe.
There should have been more of a science fiction plot. There wasn't a real sense of danger when it came to the Sci-Fi parts, and this film feels like it needed a little bit more of that. But where this film lacks in hard hitting Sci-Fi danger and plot, it makes up for it in human interaction. The heart of this film is humanity. The way we see Jim make decisions on the ship and deal with loneliness is both inspiring and excruciating. Definitely worth a watch.