Directed by Morten Tyldum, behind the recent Imitation Game, Passengers is a space epic, carried by Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Jennifer Lawrence (Joy), in the continuity of space films that begin to abound over the years.
An isolation that lacks immersion
Passengers never reaches the quality of Interstellar, Gravity or even Alone on Mars, because of the axis that the filmmaker chooses to take. The feature film is reduced to a simple romance that certainly appears in a different context: space. A beautiful idea that never really takes off. The concept of Passengers is its strength but also its own limit. The idea of staging an idyllic and especially solitary spatial romance is well found, and especially well brought. The first part of the film presents the character of Chris Pratt, a mechanic, awakened too early from his stasis by a technical malfunction and condemned to wander alone in the corridors of his ship until death follows. Not great as a program. It is in these first moments that Morten Tyldum finds his best inspirations. The filmmaker will present the evolution of a character condemned to isolation, show the different stages by which his psyche will evolve, from fear, to will, to renunciation, to the acceptance of his condition. Chris Pratt is enough to carry the film, and Morten Tyldum finds some entertaining activities to pass the time of the character, but also that of the spectator. Jennifer Lawrence will make her appearance, in conditions that we will not spoil, but we find in this character introduction the best idea of the film, raising many moral principles and existential questions. Then follows a fresh and pleasant romance but which is confined only to this identity, another classic romance that seeks its legitimacy in an innovative setting. Passengers misses its true potential, forgets to talk about the issues it brings, the loneliness is not pronounced enough, the internal questions that come to the protagonist's mind are too quickly erased and the immersion lacks power.
A completely disappointing second part
Unfortunately, the more Passengers advances, the more it falls into the classic faults of blockbusters. The script loses credibility and logic, chaining clumsy situations, scripting facilities and bad ideas to advance the story. Morten Tyldum has locked himself in his own story, not knowing how to get out of it, how to conclude, implausibilities come and go to the rescue of the outcome. By a cruel lack of finesse and the setting up of completely abusive scenes, Passengers loses its capital of sympathy and the atmosphere it brings in the first part. Morten Tyldum concludes his feature film with a lot of special effects and explosions without really knowing the direction he is taking to reach the classic happy ending of the genre. In addition, Passengers fails to stand out for his technique. Despite an aesthetically appreciable visual, the director offers a very academic staging and relatively bland characters, who do not come out at all from Hollywood.
Passengers is therefore a pleasant entertainment, but without real flavor, which avoids complicated paths, to be satisfied with the bare minimum.
