Being a science-fiction fan I’ve been looking forward to Passengers since the first preview I’ve seen.  This is a film that represents the best of science-fiction: a grandly sweeping story with a personal focus, structured on a scale of immensity, against which the smallest actions have the greatest consequences.  And what I like the best about it is that it is not based on a gimmick; there are no ferocious aliens, no time travel shenanigans, no psychological or cinematic twists that render much of the story meaningless.  Passengers is the story of a voyage across the stars put into peril, with human action necessary to prevent a terrible catastrophe.

Morten Tyldum’s film nicely balances a pragmatic glimpse of the future — complete with a mini-lecture about gigantic corporations essentially controlling the population of the homestead planet which is the ship’s destination — with a genuine sense of wonder that men and women are being shuttled through space on a 120-year voyage.  One man, mechanic Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) is awakened early — 90 years early — and spends a long time alone, and terribly lonely, before being joined by writer Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence).  Their relationship becomes the soul of the story, one which overwhelms the scientific elements and wonder.

The film’s marketing does not indicate that Passengers largely revolves around a moral conundrum, yet it is the human nature-angle that provides its defining drama.  Joe Spaihts’ script provides a great deal of room for viewers to maneuver, to take sides, to consider what they might do in similar circumstances, and to reflect upon as the special effects scenes take over at the climax.  The movie concludes with an astounding sight which begs for more information, more history, but that must be provided by viewers’ imaginations.  I find it absolutely remarkable that an expensive, high concept film with this much ambiguity would be made today by a major studio.

Passengers wants to be this generation’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.  It doesn’t have quite that much wild ambition but it is an easier film to like and enjoy because of its warmth and performances.  I feel that there still exists an uncomfortable balance between its more prosaic elements and its grand vision of the future.  Yet the film has staying power in my memory and imagination, and I hope to see it again in a theater before it disappears.  I highly recommend it, even if it isn’t the great film it aspires to be.  ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2.  5 January 2017.