Took the wife to see Jennifer Lawrence in the latest chic flic: Passengers. What a mess. Never go see a chick flick unless it's dystopian SF. A space opera just doesn't work. Requires total disconnection of cerebrum and gonads in order to watch. I'm going to have to wash my brain with this much better Czech film from 1963. The drugs being sniffed at 4:10 are scents from home after a multi year journey.
Thank you for your review steve 2^4, but I'm still probably going to check this flick out! This movie is also being shown in 3D! Is that really necessary, or even called for, for a flick like "PASSENGERS"? Based on the ads, it doesn't strike me as a movie for 3D.
yeah I'd splurge for 3d (Passengers). The CGI is very good even if the writing is stale. The interstellar ship they're in (The Avalon) has large open spaces that benefit from 3D. That and there are many scenes that take place outside the ship. There's no overcoming the lame plot though.
Art direction was wonderful. Up there with anything I've seen. The designers respected physics even if the director/writer didn't. The handling of the fusion core was a bit awkward.
Since missing Blade Runner on the big screen I vowed to see as many SF movies in a theater as possible. This I wouldn't have felt bad missing. YMMV
I can understand why some people would, but I seriously advise you tell her to read up more about the criticisms of the movie. Take away the sci-fi trappings and it's basically about a creep that kidnaps a hot woman and forces her to die of old age with him instead of pursuing her dreams on another planet.
I liked it quite a bit. Good nuts & bolts sci-fi story, and a good interpersonal story too. I found it to be a real win-win.
Watched this yesterday in the theater where it's already relegated to late night only. First of all, visually completely stunning. Production design, cinematography, top notch. Wow. Oscar nomination more than deserved. Also, the story is not that bad. It's not like the 'bad thing' happened in an unreflected way. Would be different if he wakes her up just as a spur of the moment. But he doesn't. And there is the big break too (trope in romance). Yes it's a little light on depth but puh-leaze who expected that? Go watch the excellent ARRIVAL if you want to meditate on the meaning of life. It's stupid escapism, just a dumb romance film set in space and looking really good. As such it's rather enjoyable. 7/10.
Just saw this last night. Not great but not as bad as the critics have said. The premise was engaging but the writer/director just didn't take it in interesting enough directions. That was my first thought as well, but if you think about it... if he hadn't have woken her up, they all would have died anyway. So, in a weird way, he actually saved her. The film really didn't explore that to the degree it could have. I particularly liked the fact that they completely glossed over the fact that Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence's character) planned to return to Earth after a year. So that's a 240-year round-trip. You don't think technology would have evolved after two centuries to have light-speed or even faster-than-light travel?!? The whole movie felt like a wasted opportunity to explore some really neat themes.
