Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt are Passengers

This is a decent movie—good even—but it really should be great. You have two of the most in-demand performers in Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence leading the charge surrounded by an intriguing sci-fi concept and is beautifully filmed. So what falls short?

            Before we move forward, let’s get caught up to half of lightspeed. We start off in space where no one can hear you scream, watching the smartly designed Starship Avalon on its course. Although there has never been an issue before, the Avalon bursts through a large meteor storm, diverting power to the main shields and everything; however, one rock appears to break through the barriers. This causes some system problems that are all fixed except for mechanical engineer Jim Preston’s (Pratt) pod, forcing it to prematurely open. We quickly learn that the Avalon is 30 years into its 120-year journey (that’s 90 years remaining for those counting back on Earth) toward the dreamy Homestead Colony planet for new beginnings.

            It’s at this point that I believe the movie shines brightest. Chris Pratt is still Chris Pratt in this film and gets to show his goofy side a bit, but this is also his best performance I’ve seen from him—there’s nuance to his somewhat shy, talented engineer character. I wish this whole sequence was longer, but for obvious reasons, the movie wanted to yippee ki yay over to Jennifer Lawrence. But regardless, the sequence quickly runs through uh oh, I’m trapped with everyone else still in hibernation, to trying and giving up on everything he can think of, to making the most of what the expansive WALL-E-like Avalon has to offer, to Cast Away levels of loneliness, his only companion being robot bartender played well by Martin Sheen. Quick side note: I want to give props to the film for paying homage to The Shining, but the bar is honestly too similar and is less of an homage and more of a copy.

            Naturally, when a man gets lonely and seeks companionship, he starts reading up on one of the pretty girls that’s in deep sleep on his ship. I am of course referring to New York journalist Aurora played by Lawrence. And as you may guess, Lawrence isn’t just sleeping through the whole film, Pratt eventually relents against his better judgment and awakens her from her sleep. Also, the acting award goes to Pratt in this film; other than looking fabulous in a swimsuit, Lawrence’s performance is pretty forgettable here.

            This is where in the movie the kinks in the armor start showing. The movie had to sell tickets somehow (especially when it takes over $100 million to make—over $30 million going to the leads), and sex appeal does the trick. So cheers to all that PG-13 love-making. But in all seriousness, we are treated to some Chris Prass. What a man.

            The romance isn’t awful, but it’s also not particularly interesting. Not to mention the film yada-yadas pretty hard over Lawrence ultimately getting over Pratt determining her fate when he decided to wake her up. Yeah, she ends up forgiving him after Arthur spills the beans. Don’t tell me you didn’t see that coming even over the course of reading this review.

            In comes act numbro tres. We’ve been treated to the visuals and the romance, now we just need a thrilling climax to complete Hollywoodization of this film. And how they pull it off actually brings about more interesting concepts that ties the movie together, however convenient and deus ex machina it may be. That’s not really the issue. What I think really makes this movie wasted potential is how safe it plays it. Passengers is such a Hollywood ending that it’s not even really satisfying to see the characters’ conclusions. The credits come by and you’re left feeling like well, that could’ve been better. But this isn’t a bad movie! It’s entertaining and piques intrigue, just doesn’t go far enough.

The movie is nominated for two Oscars, one being for production design. This is probably the most deserving aspect of the film (and was unfortunate enough to have to compete against the winner La La Land). The clean, white, futuristic look razzles and dazzles, and it truly feels like the Avalon is a well-thought out oiled machine. I was going to say that the other Oscar nomination for score by Thomas Newman was forgettable, but upon giving it another listen, it’s better than what I originally thought and is actually a good listen for wanting to multitask. There’s quite a lot going for Passengers: charming leads, compelling sci-fi story, action and romance, and lovely visuals. Unfortunately, it never fully comes together the way it wants; and as a result, even though it’s only a couple years old, it seems to have already been all but forgotten. It’s not really necessary to go out of your way to watch this movie, but if you have the chance or the time, it’s still entertaining fare.

            In Brief:

·       With more time over the summer comes hopefully more reviews. Been watching film after film, so I’m currently in the process of building up a repertoire of reviews to release.

·       Since I’ve already done a review on the original John Wick, I’m leaning towards not doing one for Chapter 3. With that said, super impressed with 3. I hope action movies take notes because this is how I like my action. Keanu Reeves also impresses even if he’s becoming more and more a Clint Eastwood type of character where he only says stuff in a deep, gruffly, dramatic voice. You know, stuff like, “Yeah,” and “I need guns… Lots of guns.”

·       There’s been a bit of controversy from Annapurna for not marketing the new film Booksmart enough or correctly. My only feelings are yeah, it’s getting rave critical reviews, but the trailers were unimpressive, and it isn’t the type of movie that really compels people to pay money to see it immediately. You can’t force people to watch your movie no matter how good it is. With that said I’d absolutely be willing to see it not for new time director Olivia Wilde, but actually for costar Kaitlyn Dever who has impressed me in TV shows Justified and Last Man Standing and movie Detroit.

·       As always, and especially now because of summertime, I will take any and all suggestions under consideration in deciding what to review next.

·       I still have interest in ranking all of the Marvel movies, and I have a general idea of what that list would look like; but in order to be fair, I’d have to watch them all again and that’s no small task.

Venom vs Upgrade

Before diving into either movie, I should explain the choice to compare the two. I saw both for the first time recently, and both feature men (Tom Hardy and Logan Marshall-Green—both honestly even look alike, like you can freeze certain frames of Upgrade and believe you’re watching Hardy) in action movies who are for the most part controlled either by an alien symbiote or high tech computer chip. But despite this parallel concept for the action, the movies take very different routes in their approaches. So which of these movies do I recommend, if either? Well, I guess I wouldn’t be doing my job if I said so right here…………….. Definitely Upgrade. Like clearly, very much so Upgrade. It’s not even close. But both have their strengths and faults, so read on to hear my guilt and cholesterol free opinions.

Which movie would you like to hear about first? Alphabetical order sounds good to me. Venom (I’m not an English major, folks) gets off to a terrible start. Those first 20 minutes? Atrocious. As great as Tom Hardy is, and he is easily the best thing about this movie, his character has a rocky start that never gets that great of development. And after Michelle Williams—who is completely wasted in this film (talent-wise that is, her character probably would’ve been improved if she was wasted the whole time)—breaks up with Eddie Brock for destroying her career, I was actively rooting for them to not get back together. Oh, and let’s not forget about the slow journey of metallic symbiote Riot; it represents the absolute crux of superhero films not starring Batman. While Riot does a bad impression of the demon from It Follows, the bigger sin here is that it’s a regurgitation of Venom, only bigger, badder, and meaner. I understand the argument of saving Carnage for the sequel to focus on the origins of Venom, but that does not excuse a boring antagonist like Riot. Oh, and let’s double not forget about Carlton Drake portrayed by Riz Ahmed. Not only is this guy not intimidating in any fashion, his lines are cliched and Ahmed’s delivery is overperformed. It’s just not good.

But then a little spider named Eddie Brock meets a beautiful amoeba named Venom, and all is good in the world. The middle act is clearly where this movie shines, and it’s a catastrophic shame that there was clearly tons of content here that was cut from the movie. The back and forth between the two is incredible and has genuine humor, and I could watch the restaurant scene with the lobsters all day. It’s the dynamic that the nerds were looking forward to, and it delivers. Unfortunately, it is cheapened by a forced third act. On their way to stop the rocket from launching at the end, Venom chirps to Eddie that he has grown on the journalist and wants to continue their journey together, but after roughly 50 minutes of Eddie and Venom, their relationship still doesn’t feel nearly validated enough to warrant this sequel-building line.

Other goods and bads of the film: Good: side characters Dr. Dan and Dr. Dora. Reid Scott and Jenny Slate, respectively, both play quality characters while being dear in my heart for their roles in tv shows like Veep for Scott and the unforgettable Mona-Lisa in Parks and Recreation for Slate. Bad: Venom actually looks good, but the visual effects are muddled otherwise. There’s a smart color palette, use of the San Francisco location, and overall design for the film, but the film is literally overshadowed otherwise. Good: Venom. Bad: The PG-13 rating. You better believe I wanted to see Venom chomp people’s heads off. One more bad: It seems to be my cardinal sin for action films recently, but Venom is still guilty of lazy editing and missed opportunities—like the scene against the soldiers in the building honestly could’ve been much cooler than it was.

What does Upgrade do differently? Although it is abundantly clear that as soon as you’re introduced to Grey’s wife, you’re like yeah she dead, the movie directed by Saw and Insidious collaborator Leigh Whannell provides relevant information about the setting, characters, and vibe without any unnecessary garbage. This whole review is about the comparison to Venom, but Upgrade is really like a combination of Venom, both Blade Runners, and Ex Machina, and it’s easy to explain each one. Venom is the obvious comparison with the symbiotic relationship; the premise of Upgrade is a man named Grey in the near future becoming paralyzed after thugs kill his wife and shoot him, and with the help of Amazon Echo computer chip upgrade called Stem, he looks to solve his wife’s murder. Grey is a hands-on, old-school Tom Hardy look-alike that keeps mostly to himself, but one thing leads to another, and he ends up requiring physical assistance from Stem to fight his way out of sticky situations. And boy are the fighting scenes awesome. The combination of Logan Marshall-Green’s physical acting as his face says one thing while Stem’s systematic fighting says another with the neo-noir future settings and brutality that Venom was unable to achieve adds up to the undeniable cool factor that some films simply have over others. There’s even a car chase scene that’s just crisp and clean like say Jack Reacher.

And then you see the influences of sci-films. I could really even include THX 1138 in here (George Lucas before Star Wars), but the film Blade Runner 2049 had the futuristic technology that made loads of sense in the world, and there are the sharp contrasting colors floating in the very blue film; and the original Blade Runner holds a similar approach of building up the mystery of the plot and following the bread crumbs. And with the lighting, smooth directing, and presence of AI, Ex Machina fits snugly into the similarities to Upgrade as well. And if you’ve seen these great films, you can probably put together how this film plays out. It’s not never-before-seen stuff in terms of plot, but it’s very well executed.

This isn’t a perfect movie though. Now I’m a guy that’s sat through Saving Private Ryan and Quentin Tarantino films, but that doesn’t mean brutal and gory equals better. Yes, there’s a tenacity achieved that Venom could never reach at PG-13, but it really wasn’t necessary for me to see the insides of Gray’s spine as Stem is inserted into him. And there are a couple other examples where it’s all a bit much. But that’s probably my biggest critique. I don’t think it quite had the wow factor that Ex Machina and Blade Runner 2049 had on me, but it’s simply good enough to still be one of the hidden gem action movies that the likes of John Wick used to be when it first came out.

Released about four months apart, Venom and Upgrade were destined to be compared to each other. And I think Upgrade is the film Venom wishes it could be. I believe studio interference along with the many script changes hold roles in the result, but Venom isn’t a complete film the way it has potential to be. The movie is actually quite entertaining once Venom crosses path with Eddie (entertaining until the final act where it’s once again a CGI slobber-fest where punching each other really doesn’t do much), but that’s no excuse when you find movies like Upgrade that are entertaining and then some.