Science fiction is often described as a “genre of ideas.” When it comes to Hollywood, science fiction could rather be defined as a genre of ideas that are misguided, exploited, or tragically underutilised. Few cases illustrate this better than the film Passengers, released at the end of 2016. At first glance, it appears to be one of the few “pure” examples of the genre or “hard science fiction” works. An even greater anomaly is that over $100 million was spent on it, and it is based on an original screenplay rather than an adaptation of a comic book or video game, or a remake or sequel.
The screenplay by Jon Spaihts takes place on the Avalon, a massive spaceship designed to transport several thousand passengers to a planet where a new colony will be established. Given the extraordinary interstellar distances involved, the journey lasts about 120 years, and both the colonists and the crew are forced to spend it in hibernation. Among the passengers is Jim Preston (played by Chris Pratt), an engineer who is awakened from hibernation and quickly realises that this has happened 90 years too early. The unpleasant surprise becomes even more uncomfortable when it turns out that the hibernation device can no longer be activated, meaning that Preston will die of old age before reaching his destination. He attempts to spend his remaining time exploring the ship and enjoying its luxuries, but over time he is plagued by depression and loneliness. His only solace comes from gazing at his fellow passengers, still in hibernation, particularly Aurora Lane (played by Lawrence), a writer with whom he falls deeply in love. In the end, in order to escape his loneliness and give some meaning to decades spent on the spaceship, Preston makes a drastic and morally questionable decision to awaken Aurora from her sleep.
Spaihts wrote the screenplay over ten years ago but faced scepticism from Hollywood studios during its adaptation process; the project was only seriously launched after Spaihts gained a reputation as a “sci-fi thriller expert” with Prometheus. However, Passengers is difficult to classify as a thriller, or at least much less so than as a drama. The intriguing concept of a man who suddenly finds himself unimaginably alone—decades away in both real and light years from the nearest human being with whom he can communicate—represents an interesting variation on the theme of Robinson Crusoe, but where modern technology takes care of his existential needs instead of a paradise-like nature. The moral dilemma faced by the protagonist in resolving this problem is even more intriguing; he must do so by forcing another human being against their will into the same situation.
The film, which was originally supposed to have a much lower budget, was likely sold to studio heads as a kind of combination of The Martian and Titanic, thus transforming from serious drama into cheap melodrama. It appears even cheaper in that its clichés are much closer to romantic comedies; indeed, the casting of physically attractive Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence suggests even to the least experienced viewers how the relationship between the two awakened passengers will develop. Beneath a pile of romantic clichés lie some aspects of the screenplay that have prompted certain critics to accuse Passengers of promoting patriarchy, sexism, and sexual abuse.
On top of all this, Morten Tyldum, the Norwegian director known for his intriguing black comedy thriller Headhunters and even more famous for his Oscar-nominated biopic The Imitation Game, did not pay too much attention to these issues. According to his own words, he saw this film as an opportunity to add a “big sci-fi film” to his filmography and truly endeavoured to extract maximum value from an uninspired screenplay, without being overly troubled by the limitation of setting it on just one spaceship. Visually, Passengers is an extremely attractive film; however, the banal yet eerie situation in which the protagonist finds himself creates a strong contrast with the impeccably clean, “polished” environment of futuristic luxury and seemingly perfect technology. One can also find influences from Kubrick's The Shining, especially evoked by the character of the bartender, played by Michael Sheen, who bears a striking resemblance to his counterpart in that film. Many scenes that build atmosphere sometimes seem unnecessary and overly drawn out. Tyldum, particularly towards the end, cannot overcome the script's shortcomings; at that point, Passengers abruptly shifts from melodrama into disaster film territory, resulting in an ending that feels tragically rushed and burdened with deus ex machina elements. Although far from being among the worst offerings Hollywood has today, Passengers represents one of recent cinema's greater disappointments with its conclusion.
RATING: 4/10 (+)
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