3.5 stars. Rated PG-13, for dramatic intensity, sexuality and brief chaste nudity
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 12.23.16
Science-fiction authors figured
this out a long time ago: Trans-galaxy “sleeper ships” need functioning human
crew members — in some cases, generations of same — in order to handle the dire
emergencies that inevitably occur.
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| Trying to make the most of a bad situation that seems likely to last for the rest of their lives, Jim (Chris Pratt, center) and Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence) briefly distract themselves by chatting with an amiable android bartender (Michael Sheen). |
That said, and given a current
corporate climate that values human life on a par with plumbing fixtures, I’m
willing to believe that a huge colony transport would be sent to its
light-years-distant destination with 5,000-plus hibernating passengers,
monitored solely by ship-wide computers. Cost-efficiency, y’know. Don’t want to
waste all the money and resources necessary to feed and house attentive
crewmembers.
Passengers is an old-style sci-fi pulp
adventure constructed with top-drawer, 21st century movie-making pizzazz. The
latter does its best to obscure the hoary melodramatic clichés that run rampant
through Jon Spaihts’ original screenplay; for the most part director Morten
Tyldum delivers an engaging outer space escapade, with enough momentum to keep
viewers entertained.
That’s assuming we can forgive an
eye-rolling climax on par with Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott, back in the
days of TV’s original Star Trek,
shouting “Ya canna change the laws of physics ... she’s gonna blow!”
Actually, that’s the lesser of
the two key issues that must be overcome in Spaihts’ script. The first is a
major plot point, and a deliberate moment of character development; based on
the reactions from Monday evening’s preview audience, some viewers won’t be able to get past the moment in
question.
All of which I hint at with
deliberate vagueness; this film builds suspense by slowly teasing its various
revelations.
Our first glimpse of the
space-bound Avalon is appropriately awesome, the huge ship’s rotating drive
system and passenger quarters protected by a forward-mounted shield array,
slowly crossing the screen in an introductory scene that evokes fond memories
of the similar first view of the Discovery, from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Visual effects gurus Erik Nordby and Greg Baxter
have fabricated a golly-gosh magnificent vessel: equal parts opulent luxury
liner and bad-ass interstellar convoy craft.
The autonomous shields precisely
deflect all stray space debris, until — giving us barely enough time to absorb
the vessel’s splendor — encountering an asteroid field surrounding a daunting,
moon-sized body. The shields hold, but the impact nonetheless resonates.
