Passengers

I believe this might be the first movie pseudo-review (no spoilers here, not even characters' names) that I have written about on my blog. I don't watch as many movies as I used to but this one was quite unexpectedly excellent.

I have not read any professional reviews online, so I don't know if this movie is well received by the critics, but it certainly made me feel something, which is what good movies should always do! I could sympathize with Chris Pratt's character. He was superb at acting out the emotions one might feel as they are stranded alone on a spaceship, as well as his thoughts on what he may have to do. Jennifer Lawrence also handled her role effectively, with greater emotional instability when compared to Pratt's calmer and more measured reactions. Considering their respective professions, I think both actors acted out what a writer and an engineer might actually behave like, when facing adversity in outer space.

The user experience and user interface as shows by the ship display as well as the wake up procedures and AI assistants was well thought out and certainly futuristic enough, especially the voice control. My main criticism is that on a ship of this size, the lighting would have probably been turned off to save power, instead of glowing like a Christmas tree. The aesthetics would probably have suffered as a result, but I think it is a fair trade off (realism vs practicality). Also, a lot of the UI design might be overloading the user with information, but it certainly looked incredible with all those numbers and graphs animating swiftly.

The music was also fantastic, especially the track "The Sleeping Girl", featuring some nice vocals that really resonated with me. Feel free to search for it on YouTube. I will have to admit that I listed to it on repeat while I was typing this post.

As for the story, I definitely don't wish to discuss it too much since I don't wish to spoil it for those who may have not seen the movie yet. I would say that it is very entertaining to watch and it has its moments of suspense, romance and humor. While it may raise certain ethical questions with regards to Chris Pratt's actions, those are not dealt explored with much depth. I think that creative choice allows for a lighter feel, making it more accessible to most viewers. I would imagine the critics would find all sort of holes in it, but ultimately it is not a movie made for them.

I would say that "Passengers" is easily one of the best films I have seen this year. It reminded me of "Solaris" (2002), although I would say I enjoyed "Passengers" a lot more. Unfortunately, a sequel is somewhat out of the question considering the way the story unfolds.