'PASSENGERS' which I saw this week is from Norwegian film Director Morten Tyldum who previously brought us 2014's 'The Imitation Game'. Here he Directs this Sci-Fi adventure offering set in deep space. Made for US$110M and released in the US just before Christmas, the film has so far made US$181M and has seemingly fared less well with critics whose general response has been mixed at best, than it has with the movie going public. Having read the negative press, I was pleasantly surprised by the film, and feel it fares better than the critics give it credit for.
The story here takes place during some undisclosed future date aboard the starship 'Avalon', a state of the art vessel transporting 5,000 Earth inhabitants and some 250 crew to colonise a far away planet called Homestead II. That planet is so far away from Earth that the journey takes 120 years, and those 'passengers' and crew are in hibernation pods for the entirety of the journey, with the super advanced spacecraft on autopilot. The intention is that the passengers will awaken four months before arrival at Homestead II, and the crew one month before them, in order for everyone to assimilate to each other, their new surroundings, the prospect of life in a galaxy far far away, to learn new skills and to prepare for a fresh start at life. There is no going back.
Early on we see Avalon pass through a meteor cloud, and using its defensive shield manages to get through largely unscathed until we see a huge chunk of space rock the size of a football stadium come into view and headed on a collision course. It impacts and is deflected, but the jolt to the ships infrastructure causes a malfunction in one hibernation pod - that of mechanical engineer Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) who awakens thinking that he has arrived at Homestead II already, and the requisite 120 years has passed. After a day or two however, he comes to realise that nothing could be further from the truth, largely by the absence of anyone else. He searches through the mighty Avalon looking for others, interacting with various holographic beings passing out information, instructions and intelligence and learns too that the ship left earth only thirty years ago, and its destination is still ninety years away. How is this possible?
Resigned to his fate, Preston goes about his daily routines using all the facilities available to the passengers once they have woken up from their hibernation - restaurants, cinema, basketball gym, and the bar where he is able to interact with mechanical robot bartender Arthur (Michael Sheen) for some kind of companionship.
He also investigates the ships every corner to ascertain what he is dealing with, what resources are available and if there is a means of re-hibernation, but there is not. However, some areas are beyond his ability to access given that he is a lowly mechanical engineer who gained free passage to Homestead II on account of his necessary skills. One such area that 'is beyond his pay grade' is the main deck where the ships controls and diagnostic systems are housed, which he tries fruitlessly to access for a prolonged period, but to no avail.
This carries on for a year, with the two making the most of their lives abroad the Avalon, until Arthur inadvertently lets out that it is the anniversary of Preston waking up Lane. At first Lane cannot believe what she is hearing, and then her anger turns physical and emotional as she deliberately distances herself from Preston, accusing him of what is tantamount to murder.
Shortly after this as Preston is trying to explain himself over the Avalon's PA system, they hear the voice of Chief Deck Officer Gus Mancuso (Laurence Fishburn) who has been woken by another pod malfunction. Mancuso has higher authority and so gains them access to the main deck which earlier Preston had spent tireless hours trying to access. Using the ships diagnostic systems they learn of multiple failures in the ships infrastructure and systems, which if not repaired will have catastrophic effects. They learn that the damage was done two years ago during the meteor storm that initially woke up Preston, and so now it becomes a race against time to locate the damage and effect repairs. Mancuso meanwhile is in ill health and in the ships infirmary in the Autodoc (an automated medical diagnostics and treatment pod) they learn that he has just hours to live thanks to the manner in which his hibernation pod was opened and what he was exposed to in the process. Before he dies, he hands over his ID wrist band giving the pair unrestricted access to all areas.
As the ships systems increasingly fail putting at risk over five thousand souls, so the hunt is on for the damage. They locate several holes in the ships hull that caused damage to the computer that administers the ships reactor. Knowing that there are spare parts on the ship for every conceivable necessity, Preston retrieves a new computer bank to replace the damaged one. In doing so however, it causes further damage to the reactor. Preston realises that the fusion reactor needs to be vented, but this cannot be done from the inside due to damaged systems infrastructure, and so he needs to do so from outside the ship. Lane is reluctant to let him go knowing that she may never see him again, and she couldn't abide that thought despite her previous feelings of being cheated out of her future life.
There are nods aplenty to other films, including '2001:A Space Odyssey', 'Prometheus', 'The Martian', 'Gravity' and 'Titanic', and like all of these films 'Passengers' does not disappoint on the visuals which are stunning and expertly realised. With a small handful too of individuals battling against the odds; a story that you can relate to; and a chemistry between the two leads that make you believe, this is ultimately a love story wrapped up in a disaster epic where loss and despair give way to love and hope. I found Preston just a little too worldly wise as a lowly mechanical engineer who is able to craft metal trinkets, reprogramme robots, sidestep complex computer systems, design an eco system, and know how reactor fusion works amongst other things to be just a little too convenient and a little to MacGuiver esque. Preston's motives for waking up Lane are at the core of the film, and it is a matter for debate as to what you would do confronted with a lifetime of no other human contact, and ultimately her reaction and reconciliation to this is equally questionable. I enjoyed 'Passengers' much more than I thought I would, and I think you will too. It is worth seeing on the big screen for all the spectacle, complexity and the enormity of a sterile, untarnished brand spanking new floating mega shopping mall and entertainment complex hurtling through space on its 120 year journey to go boldly where no man has gone before!
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
