Passengers features a terrific sci-fi premise: two passengers on a 120-year journey on the immense, ultra-luxurious spaceship Avalon awake from their hibernation pods 90 years too early. Along with 5,000 fellow travelers and 258 crew, they're headed for a distant colony called Homestead II, which offers a promised land alternative to “overpopulated, overpriced, and overrated Earth.” After a damaging asteroid strike, Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) emerges from cryogenic sleep, but soon realizes that he's the only one awake—with just a genial android bartender (Michael Sheen) for company. Jim is a mechanical engineer, so he spends a full year trying to remedy the situation—to no avail. Almost suicidal with loneliness, Jim finds another awakened passenger, a beautiful New York writer, Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence). Naturally, a romantic relationship develops but one with turns and twists. Helmed by Norwegian director Morten Tyldum, Passengers tackles profound moral and philosophical dilemmas in a provocative, character-driven story that unfortunately disappoints during the final act, which feels like it was adjusted by a focus group that demanded some spectacular action/thriller sequences. So, sadly, the compelling castaway concept is ultimately squandered. Optional. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include the production featurettes “Casting” (11 min.), “Creating the Avalon” (10 min.), “Book Your Passage” (5 min.), and “On Set with Chris Pratt” (4 min.), and outtakes (5 min.). Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are deleted scenes (10 min.), “Space on Screen: The Visual Effects” segment (8 min.), and a bonus UltraViolet copy of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a disappointing film.] (S. Granger)
Passengers
Sony, 116 min., PG-13, DVD: $30.99, Blu-ray: $34.99, Mar. 14 Volume 32, Issue 3
Passengers
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
Order From Your Favorite Distributor Today: