Passengers (2016) Review

Directed by

Morten Tyldum

Some films set themselves up well to be a huge success.  This could be due to the cast, director, story, release date, and a variety of other factors.  Every now and then, this perfect storm comes together in one film to possibly spell a huge blockbuster success that could compete for some awards.  There is usually at least one of these films every year.  One of these films in 2016 is definitely Passengers, a futuristic space thriller starring two of the biggest stars in Hollywood right now and directed by Morten Tyldum, the acclaimed director coming off a huge success in The Imitation Game.  Add in the Christmas release date, and you have a film that could be huge.  However, all this is just hype until the film is seen.  You just hope it can live up to some of the expectations that have been placed on it.

The starship Avalon has embarked on a journey to colonize a new planet that has been discovered called Homestead II.  This journey takes 120 years so the 5000 passengers and 285 crew members are placed in sleep chambers for almost the entire journey (they wake up for the last 4 months) so they can wake up upon arrival not aging a day.  When the ship travels through an asteroid field, a malfunction leads to the premature awakening of two passengers (Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence) 90 years early.  Now Jim and Aurora, two complete strangers, are forced to get to know each other as they are alone on this ship and destined to die long before anyone else wakes up.  Being two young, attractive people with no one else to talk to (besides the robot bartender Arthur), they begin to fall in love.

First, the film is beautiful to watch.  Half the time, I feel like I should be listening to Neil deGrasse Tyson narrating my space documentary instead of watching Pratt and Lawrence run around a spaceship.  The two lead actors are exactly what they need to be as well.  They aren't award-worthy performances, however they are strong nonetheless.  It's hard to be the only two people in a film and pull it off.  Michael Sheen as Arthur the robot bartender is a scene-stealer every time he shows up.  The first half of this film is fascinating as it takes the huge scope and scale and turns it into an intimate love story with a huge secret hanging over their heads.  If it had stayed there, it would have been a much better film.

Once the big secret comes out (which isn't a secret at all for the audience), the story starts to tumble out of control.  In the aftermath of the big reveal, the ship starts to have serious malfunctions that threaten the lives of everyone on board.  Now Jim and Aurora, with no training, have to save the passengers they will never meet.

This film had a lot of good things going for it, but I had a lot of issues with it as well.  First, there are parts of the premise that don't quite work.  How does this Homestead company work?  They fire people out into space on a ship that takes 250 years to travel round trip?  They do not really explain how exactly this works.  The round trip would take longer than the USA has currently been in existence!  Second, there is a huge issue that is never mentioned.  If these two people are awake this whole time, how will there be any food left for the rest of the passengers once they wake up?

There are two bigger issues I have with the film.  First, it oversimplifies what is going on.  The great space films don't dumb down what is going on with the science of the plot.  This film never really explains anything.  Either it assumes its audience won't understand or the writers didn't bother putting in the details.  It doesn't matter why they did it, but it is definitely a turn-off.  My second big issue with the film is how it spirals into something it didn't need to do with the apocalyptic, end of the world plot "twist."  Then it uses that to tie the whole thing up into a nice, neat, little bow at the end.  It really cops out to get there as well.

I am a huge fan of space films.  My favorite film of all time is Apollo 13, and I was a huge fan of Gravity as well a few years ago.  I have very high standards when it comes to films in space.  This is not a space film.  It is a thriller that happens to take place in space.  That made it a slight disappointment.  With all that said, I really enjoyed about the first half to two-thirds of the film.  I was willing to forgive some of these oversights when the film was going well.  However, once you see how the last third of the film is developing, you know exactly how it is all going to end as it takes no risks.  Once that happens, all the flaws start to matter more and more.  I expected more of a space film, and I expected more of Tyldum's follow-up to The Imitation Game.  I really wanted to love this film.  I liked it, but it could have been so much more.

Rating:

2.5 stars

Gravity (2013) Review

Directed by

Alfonso Cuaron

I have always had a soft spot in my heart for outer space.  Ever since the first time I saw Apollo 13 (or maybe it was the 30th time I watched, I'm not sure), I have had an obsession with space travel with all the glory and peril it presents.  So when I heard about the release of Gravity this year, one could understand that it quickly became one of the top movies on my must-see list of 2013.  Some would think I was guaranteed to like it, but I also could be more critical of it due to my love of the subject matter and genre.  However, Alfonso Cuaron, who I have never known to disappoint me before, made an absolute masterpiece that leaves you on the edge of your seat from start to finish of this 90 minute nail biter.

The film opens with an American crew on the space shuttle Explorer out on a space walk to install some new technology on the Hubble Space Telescope.  The leader of the expedition, NASA vet Matt Kowalski (played by George Clooney), was wandering around the site in a jet pack supervising while Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) installed her new technology on the telescope.  During the procedure, word came in from mission control (voiced by Ed Harris ... who else) that the Russians had shot down one of their own satellites.  The space debris from that explosion had destroyed several other satellites in the area which caused a storm of debris to head towards the Explorer and its exposed crew.  As the debris storm came and caused chaos, the remaining crew is forced to struggle for survival in the emptiness of space.

As the first screen appears, explaining that there is no air in space, not even to carry sound, you know it is going to have a very eerie feel, which in space is probably quite realistic.  As you see explosions and destruction happening all around, not a sound is made which actually adds to the suspense and tension.  At least on earth, you can hear something bad coming.  In space, it is silent whether all is well or all hell is breaking loose.  The setting of space basically gave Cuaron an extra character to work with that he utilized to its full extent.

The performances in this film are outstanding from the two people you actually see in the film.  I have yet to see a performance from Clooney that doesn't prove he is one of the top actors of his generation.  The surprise was Sandra Bullock who puts in the best work of her career.  She may not have deserved the Oscar for the role she won it for, but the physical and emotional demands that this role put on her, and her ability to shine through all that, prove that she deserves the title of Oscar-winning actress.  Without her performance, the movie falls flat.

I was on the edge of my seat, to say the least, from start to finish.  First off, the setting of space adds an element of suspense to begin with, but add in the circumstances of the characters and it puts you over the edge.  The emotional roller coaster that is Gravity you could actually say had me on the edge of my seat about half the time because the other half the time I was squirming in my seat as I was trying to help the characters make it through from my theatre seat.  I like to think it helps.

Gravity is definitely a movie-going experience that all should go through, especially if you enjoy space, or suspense, or tales of survival, or ... human beings.  The story is so good, but even if you don't like it the visuals are worth seeing it alone.  It is a masterpiece from Cuaron, who has me torn.  I want to see him make more films, but I also see what he produces when he gives himself a few years to develop the film.  So I don't know Alfonso, find a way to make masterpieces faster.

Rating:

4 stars