Passengers Movie Review

The Trailer:

The Good:
Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence's chemistry is a nice focal point for the film.  It really drives home the romantic/love story angle for the majority of the movie. However, without giving anything away (and depending on which trailer you've seen), this film does raise some very interesting topics surrounding the issue of consent. (I think my feminist friends will have a field day with this film.) What I appreciated about Passengers is that it will really challenge some moral positions given some of the decisions that are made by the characters.

The visuals are pretty nice given all of the futuristic, yet practical, technological advances. There are a few pockets of suspense sprinkled towards the end of the film. There was one scene especially that I thought really showcased the unique dangers and terrors of being in space.

The Bad:
I think my issue with this film is the marketing. The trailer gives you the impression that these two people woke up early for some mysterious reason, and danger is afoot with the ship. Well, that's only partially true. What was so enticing about the trailer is that it leads you to believe that there's a greater mystery that needs to be solved (ie: What was the reason why they woke up early?) Unfortunately, you find out the reason rather soon into the movie and then it jettisons into more of the love story angle. Now this MAY not be an issue for those going in cold, but it definitely messed with my expectations and didn't end with a good enough payoff for me.

Also, I personally wasn't a fan of the "Magical negro" cameo that was made in the film. I just think that they could've found another way to progress the story without having to include the random character that they did. That's all I'll say about that.

The Reason:
If you did see the trailer like I did, then you'd probably expect that this film was going to be a sci-fi heavy, suspense thriller. Instead it's more of a lite sci-fi romantic film with a splash of suspense. I'd probably say that Passengers is about 65% Romance, 25% sci-fi, and 10% suspense/thriller. You can think of this film as Gravity + Castaway + Titanic. It's worth a watch, but I'd avoid the trailers and I'd also go in with low expectations. This could probably make for a decent date movie as well.

The Rating: 7/10
   

My [Loosely based] Ratings scale
10-9 = A Must watch at any cost. 
8.5- 7.5 = Theater worthy 
7-6.5 = Matinee/rental worthy at best
6 = Watchable (If it's free)
5 - below = Avoid at all costs

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