“Passengers”starring superstars Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence, it was heavily criticized when it was released in 2016 (or 2017 in Germany). The science fiction blockbuster is coming to a weak average rating of only 41 percent and noisy More than two-thirds of critics have a negative opinion of the film. An absolute shame for such an ambitious and, with a budget of $110 million, expensive production.
But I guess “Passengers” doesn’t deserve all the bad feedback. To be sure, Morten Tyldum’s dubious science fiction romance (“The Imitation Game”) is not a masterpiece of the genre. Still, I would like to make clear streaming advice here and then explain why I think “Passengers” is a great science fiction film, despite its shortcomings (or perhaps because of them).
“PassengersYou can currently stream it on WOW’s flat-rate program (formerly Sky Ticket).
The film can also be streamed as VoD from other providers, such as Amazon, for a rental fee. If you’re a Prime customer, you can get the title there too free streaming*. All you have to do is sign up for the seven-day free trial of the otherwise valuable Filmtastic channel. If you do not cancel again, you will owe 3.99 euros per month after the trial period.
That’s why you should watch ‘Passengers’.
“Passengers” are easy to spoil, so here are the qualities of the film, which do not require plot descriptions:
The science fiction drama impresses first and foremost with its stark contradictions, which create a unique atmosphere. Because Tyldum tells a very intimate, almost chamber play-like story using a blockbuster. As our author Carsten Baumgardt said in the 3.5-star FILMSTARTS review: “intimacy comes in handy here. […] about epic grandeur, romantic drama about space spectacle” and daring ideas about glossy Hollywood cinema.
What excites me even more personally is the glaring discrepancy between the superficially beautiful facade and the dark subtext, which encompasses not only Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence’s romance, but every corner of the set design and every virtual CGI fiber, albeit as the two main characters marvel at the infinite (and infinitely beautiful) vastness of space or Lawrence takes a spectacular dive into weightlessness. ‘Passengers’ looks damn good, but it’s rotten on the inside.
The spaceship is essentially a cruise ship in space. Everything has been taken care of down to the last detail, there is a beautiful garden, sensational entertainment options, an android butler and much more. But for the protagonists, this flying playground is nothing more than a chrome-plated luxury prison from which they will never escape, which brings us to the film’s premise.
That’s what “Passengers” is about
During a decades-long flight to a distant planet, mechanic Jim (Pratt) and journalist Aurora (Lawrence) wake from their cold sleep 90 years too early. Since there is no way to return to this state, it is like a death sentence. The two will die aboard the spaceship before reaching the safety of the colony. That much is certain.
But their common fate brings the two together and they spend a romantic time together until a technical problem threatens to damage the spaceship so badly that the remaining 5,000 passengers will never reach their destination. The great romance between the two is shaken by an existential threat. At least that’s what the trailer sells us as the film’s central conflict, but that’s far from the whole truth…
Anyone who watches the trailer for ‘Passengers’ will get a completely wrong impression. The reason why they are both awake is the real conflict of “Passengers” and it reaches bitterly evil dimensions that make the film unforgettable for me.
Ironically, this twist is also the reason for the many scathing reviews. To go into that I have to give a spoiler…
The criticism of ‘Passengers’ is justified, but exaggerated
Warning: There are some spoilers for “Passengers” ahead!
It turns out that originally only Jim wakes up from a cold sleep. In his loneliness, however, he falls in love with the attractive Aurora and decides to wake up his fellow passenger. So he passes her death sentence, just to make his own journey more bearable. This highly selfish decision earned ‘Passengers’ a lot of criticism.
The film sells us Jim as a tragic hero who simultaneously does something so immeasurably evil that we can’t possibly forgive him for the entire running time.
I also find the way in which this conflict is ultimately resolved questionable, but that doesn’t ruin the entire film for me.
What Jim does is morally wrong, but that doesn’t make him an inhuman. When I watch the movie, I am always aware that he has made a terrible mistake, but I can also understand his actions. Jim was trapped in one of the worst situations anyone could ever imagine: spending his entire life in absolute solitude, without ever meeting another soul.
We’re not talking about a frustrated psychopath who stalks his ex-girlfriend because he can’t take no for an answer. It’s about a person who has no hope of ever communicating with another living being again. Social relationships are one of the basic needs of our species. Jim’s decision to wake Aurora is terrible, but deeply human.
The big criticism is what makes “Passengers” worth watching
I’ve often heard or read the suggestion that “Passengers” would have been much better as a dark psychological thriller than as a soft-spoken blockbuster. But the very fact that two flawless Hollywood beauties have an almost ridiculously hot time in a highly artificial, luxurious environment, only to have it undermined by such a morally reprehensible act, gives the film an individual touch that makes a stern thriller or even horror movie. probably never would have.
Even though the final resolution of the conflict was unsatisfactory and unbelievable to me, ‘Passengers’ gave me exactly what I expect from a science fiction film: Breathtaking sights and food for thought about the nature of humanity.
The fact that “Passengers” remains so vividly in my mind even years after its release and I still wonder what I would have done in Jim’s place is to me a clear sign that the film is doing a lot right.
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