Passengers: The Trip of a Lifetime

Yes, you get to see Chris Pratt’s rump several times. But there are other reasons to see the new sci-fi flick co-starring the former Katniss Everdeen, Jennifer Lawrence.

If what you’re hoping for is an epic romance, try La La Land or the star-crossed lovers of Nocturnal Animals or Manchester By the Sea instead. If what you seek is an action film, you’re far better off with the Star Wars spinoff Rogue One. But if you’re looking for something with a little slower burn that poses a few questions of merit — including what you’re willing to pay and give for love, then Passengers may suit you just fine.

In this soap opera set in space, director Morten Tyldum lays a thin sheen of intellectualism over a paper-thin trip from Earth to a human-friendly planet named ever-so-corporately as Homestead II. The problem is that it takes more than a century to get from point A to point B, and everyone aboard is in suspended animation. To make matters worse, a freak accident wakes one solitary pilgrim from his slumber, Jim Preston (Pratt), who can neither put himself back to sleep nor make it to the distant shores of his intended home during a normal life span.

To make matters worse, he’s going mad with loneliness and fallen in love with a sleeping beauty named Aurora (Lawrence), whose videos have him in a swoon. For months he debates the morality of rousing her, and when he finally succumbs, the film finally jolts to life. At first, she has no idea that her awakening was Jim’s doing, but when she finds out, there’s hell to pay. It takes the damage originally done to the ship which puts the other 5,000 passengers in jeopardy to bring them back together to save the day. It’s fun. It’s formulaic, and you won’t want or need to give it another thought as soon as the lights come up. See the trailer below.