'Passengers' Movie Review

Hello, fellow moviegoers!
   Passengers is directed by Morten Tyldum, and it stars Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt. When a couple passengers of an interstellar ship wake up ninety years earlier than they were supposed to, they must try and figure out what caused them to wake up, and how they can fix it. This film was one of my most anticipated of 2016, so is it any good?

   Passengers was an entertaining film, but it’s not nearly as good as it could’ve been. With its all-star cast and an extremely interesting premise, this film had a lot going for it. Unfortunately, it just didn’t live up to the hype.
   The biggest problem with this film revolves around the plot. It doesn't pick a central plotline; it has several going on.  That may sound good, but it treated each plotline as if it were the main plotline.  In reality, it made the film unfocused and incoherent. This film tries to be equal part sci-fi adventure, rom-com, and survival story. The beginning of this film is by far the best part because it’s focused on only one of those; however, about half an hour into the film, it starts to branch out and that’s where it goes downhill.
   One thing that Passengers did really well was making the direness of the situation apparent to the audience. It was very apparent that if they didn’t do something, these characters would die. There are a few really good scenes that showed them wrestling with this reality. As the film goes on, you can see how this situation is affecting and changing the characters. It was interesting to see the character arcs over the course of this film. 
   What bothered me most about this film was the McGuffin. For those of you who don’t know, a McGuffin is something in a story that is there exclusively to forward the plot in an easy fashion. A lot of films have them; some are blunter about it than others. Passengers is extremely blunt about it because the McGuffin in this film is an entire character. I won’t spoil anything, but it was extremely distracting. They got a great actor to play this character, and then they didn’t develop him. He just forwarded the plot, and it was incredibly disappointing. 
   I imagine Passengers as somebody running a race. They’re not winning said race, but they’re doing a good job. They have a few stumbles here and there, but overall they are doing well. That is until the finish line. It’s just before the finish line that the runner trips and falls flat on their face. Passengers does not finish well, at all. It just ends. There’s a cliché monologue, and then it almost feels like the power went out. The movie is just suddenly over, and it leaves the audience with a feeling of “Is that it?”. 
   Overall, I thought Passengers was a good movie. It’s not amazing by any stretch of the human imagination, but I would still recommend it. The most disappointing thing about this film is the fact that it had so much potential. If it would’ve been executed better, this film could’ve easily made my Top Ten of the Year. Unfortunately, it doesn’t live up to its hype. 
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6.5/10

​   So what did you think of Passengers? Did you enjoy it more or less than I did? Let me know by commenting on this post! Also, if you enjoyed this review, share it on Facebook and Twitter. It really helps! Don’t forget I post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so check back then for more movie reviews and miscellaneous movie thoughts! I’m hard at work on my Top Ten Films of 2016 and Ten Most Anticipated Films of 2017 lists. So, look forward to seeing those soon!

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