While the writing did intrigue and provoked a lot of thought, it didn't always work.
Its biggest flaw is the last 30 minutes, it would have worked better as something more suspense or action-oriented but instead felt like a tacked on logic-free anti-climax where too many things felt unresolved and it was too over-the-top and ridiculous. On the other hand, 'Passengers' doesn't live up to full potential. It's not just them though, Michael Sheen is amusing as Arthur and while his screen time is short (too short) Laurence Fishburne gives his characters pathos and dignity. Believed these two as lovers and found myself caring for their love story due to their success in keeping it alive. Lawrence gets a lot of hate here, but to me she is one of the better actresses today under 30 (her acting actually has a beyond her years feel to it). He handles it very well and commands the screen. Pratt is more understated than usual, in a cast against type dramatic role for an actor better known for comedy. The direction isn't mind-blowing but is competent before not knowing what to do with itself in the final quarter or so. The initial fiery animosity turning into a beautiful love story was convincing thanks to the chemistry between Pratt and Lawrence. The story on the most part didn't lose me, while it is not your conventional thrilling sci-fi film with lots of special effects and action it has its fair share of poignancy and intrigue. There are many moments where 'Passengers' provokes a lot of thought and is intriguing, raising some very interesting questions and ideas. 'La La Land' deserved the win but of the other Best Original Score nominees (which included 'Jackie', which should never have been nominated) 'Passengers' for me was one of the better ones. Don't think that Thomas Newman's score has been talked about enough despite being nominated for an Oscar (losing out to 'La La Land'), it's understated and hauntingly beautiful in a distinctive Newman. It is easy to see why the production design garnered an Oscar nomination The special effects at their best make the jaw drop.
It's beautifully shot and crisply edited while the lighting and sets have a lot of atmosphere and are imaginative in their scope, showing the beauty, wonder and mysteriousness of outer space. For one thing 'Passengers' looks wonderful, the advertising didn't lie in this regard. 'Passengers' is one of the latter examples and a lot of the problem with its less than enthusiastic critical response is to do with advertising which didn't indicate that it would be as unconventional as it was. There have been a fair share of times where our opinions have been different, when a praised film didn't do much for me and a panned one surprised me in a good way. Unlike a lot of people on the internet and particularly on IMDb, critics get a lot of respect from me and often we are on the same page. It's not perfect and can see where some of the criticisms are coming from, but it was to me a beautiful and thought-provoking film that raised some interesting questions and thoughts. Seeing it with my flatmate last night, who had seen the film before, really liked it and had recommended it to me, 'Passengers' turned out to be a much better film than expected. Although 'Passengers' had one of the most unique concepts of any film in recent years, had talented actors on board and the production values looked wonderful from the advertising, the critical reception (not just from critics but also from those who dislike Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence and immediately saying the film would be terrible, not being ignorant this actually happened) was a turn off.
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