Images courtesy Columbia Pictures.
Passengers is a fantastic concept for a film and, starring the two hottest actors in the world, a guaranteed success, but inept, lazy filmmaking allows this concept to descend into cliche and disturbing moral carelessness.
Aboard the starship Avalon, more than 5,000 passengers and crew lie in a 120 year slumber on their way to Homestead II. When the Avalon’s shield allows a piece of debris to punch a hole in the reactor, the entire ship begins malfunctioning. One of the first malfunctions is the awakening of engineer Jim Parker (Chris Pratt) 90 years early, sentencing him to die of old age before he ever sees another human being again. Distraught in his isolation, Parker becomes obsessed with the story of another of the passengers, journalist Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence). In an act of unspeakable selfishness and cruelty, Parker awakens her so she can share in his horrifying fate.
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