"There is a reason they woke up" in Passengers. This science fiction romance film directed by Morten Tyldum and written by Jon Spaihts. A spacecraft traveling to a distant colony planet and transporting thousands of people has a malfunction in its sleep chambers. As a result, two passengers are awakened 90 years early.
Since 2007, Spaihts' had gone through development hell, the script was even featured in the 2007 Blacklist, a list of the "most liked" unmade scripts of the year. Multiple directors and actors were attached to the project over the years, including Brian Kirk, David Fincher, Gabriele Muccino, Marc Forster, Keanu Reeves, Rachel McAdams, Reese Witherspoon and Emily Blunt. The film's production budget was a relatively low $35 million. In early December 2014, Sony Pictures Entertainment picked up the film's rights, with Tyldum attached to direct. Tyldum had always wanted to do a massive sci-fi action movie, but also stressed the importance of a character-driven sci-fi film, rather than a cold and distant one. In February 2015, Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence were cast as the two leads. According to The Hollywood Reporter, both leads will be pulling down double digit millions: Pratt will be paid $12 Million while Lawrence is looking at $20 Million against 30% of the profits. By mid September, Michael Sheen, Laurence Fishburne, and Andy García rounded out the film's cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced, and wrapped in early February 2016. Filming took place at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. Filming occasionally took place for full days with a bulk of the shooting involving the two leads only. The film was shot on the Arri Alexa 65 cameras, with Panavision Primo 70 Lenses, in the 2.39 : 1 aspect ratio.
The film stars Lawrence, Pratt, Sheen, Fishburne, and García. Solid performances were given by the cast, especially Lawrence and Pratt, whose chemistry works surprisingly well. Though, at times, their romance treaded on tiresome and cliched territory. They are appealing screen presences, but the film needs more than just that to stay alive.
Passengers doesn't overcome its questionable story, especially with the collapse of the third act, but barely succeeds largely on the strength of Lawrence and Pratt's graceful and effortless performances. The film is filled with a few amazing sequences, but ultimately failed due to its pretty weak and light screenplay for a sci-fi romance film. It wasn't quite as powerful, thought provoking, and challenging as one would have hoped. Instead it, especially its third act, felt like a betrayal and a compromise. I wouldn't dream of giving away the ending, but it's not likely to satisfy either sci-fi or romance fans. However, if you ignore its flaws, the film can be enjoyed as the perfect brainless Christmas blockbuster - but it is essentially a leftover festive turkey. It's absolutely dull in almost every other respect. But it's absolutely interesting in its vision of how lonely it would be to be the only one not in hibernation.
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