PASSENGERS – Rated PG-13

PASSENGERS – Rated PG-13 – 116 Min.

Starring Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence and Laurence Fishburne

Journeying into the vass depths of outer space on the spaceship Avalon, we meet James “Jim” Preston (Chris Pratt), who has been awoke from hibernation, some 90 years too soon.

Forced to make his way about the station alone, Jim forms a friendship with droid Arthur (Michael Sheen), longing for some type of companionship each and every day. When another pod opens to release the beautiful and talented Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence), it seems that life on this ship just got intensely easier to take.

As the only two humans awake amongst the 5,000 on board, Jim and Aurora’s relationship quickly ventures beyond “just friends”…

But, as our lovebirds find out rather quickly, even life on a spaceship can be hazardous, as the spacecraft seems to be malfunctioning around every turn…

Forced to learn to rely on one another, and the assistance of newly escaped pod mate Gus Mancuso (Laurence Fishburne), our PASSENGERS in space must figure out a way to fix their crafts operating system…before its too late!!!

I give PASSENGERS a rating between MUST SEE ON THE BIG SCREEN and WAIT AND CATCH THIS FILM ON DVD. I Love, Love, Love both Pratt and Lawrence, so going in, I was hoping for an “out of this world” experience. Sadly, it just never happened. Pratt is good, Lawrence is too, and seeing Fishburne again on the big screen was enjoyable as well, but this film takes way to long to get moving, even though we are supposedly moving at light speed. I also thought the storyline could have been much better, all along the way as well. There were so many missed opportunities that, with a few tweaks, could have turned this film into what I hoped it would be. But ~ once it did get going moving ~ it became rather entertaining to view, and yes, that’s even beyond all of Pratt’s butt shots throughout the film too! I also couldn’t get beyond one of those things that bugs me profusely while watching a film ~ which is, when it contains a scene that is totally reminiscent from another film I’ve seen – and that is exactly what happens here, as a scene from 2013’s GRAVITY with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney could have totally just been edited out of that film and dropped into this one. All bets were instantly off for this science fiction thriller to totally win me over, once that scene came into view.

So, If you like science fiction thrillers laced with a love story, and an adorable pant less droid too, then by all means head out to the theater this weekend and catch Pratt and Lawrence in action ~ and in more ways than one 😉 But if mediocre CGI, mixed with a storyline that easily could have been so much better, isn’t feeling like something you want to spend your hard earned cash on, then wait to pick up the DVD in a few months, and then screen it on the little screen with your buddies, or significant other…

Kathy Kaiser