Passengers (2016): Come for Pratt and Lawrence, stay for the stalking & murder

When misery stalks company... in space!

She's dead Jim.

"Passengers" (2016) is the most adorable movie about a man stalking, and then murdering, his victim that I've ever seen. 

Chris Pratt (Starlord man!) and Jennifer Lawrence ("I volunteer as tribute!) shared some certainly electric chemistry!

But yeah, he totally murdered her... dead. It just took a while.

I'm sure you're confused. 

I felt a wee bit deceived myself there for a bit. I mean, the trailer made things seem a lot more action-y and sci-fi-y. It turned out to be more "Fatal Attraction and less "Lost in Space" with some romance.

Still though, the premise (as simple as it was) is a real hook. Also, utterly chilling. 

If you were trapped on a deserted island, but you had the power to bring one person... would you?

Yeah, that's the entire premise. 

Pratt is back in space, sans two green murder-bot aliens, a talking tree (also alien) and a enhanced, also talking raccoon. 

Nope, not in the movie

This time he's Jim Preston, one of 5,000 other passengers/colonists travelling on the Starship Avalon through space to a new planet 120 years away from Earth. Sounds dandy until Preston's cryo-pod malfunctions and he wakes up 90 or so years too soon, all alone.

Preston does his best Tom Hanks in "Castaway" impersonation for a year or so, with Arthur (Michael Sheen) doing a solid Wilson. Only serving whiskey and "sage" barman advice.

He's like a whiskey-serving Wilson.

Without going any deeper into Spoiler Territory, the film does have stalking and murder as pretty core elements, set against the sci-fi, future-ship-in-space backdrop. One could argue that there are extenuating circumstances, but still... "stalking" and "M-U-R-D-E-R".


All things considered though, I did enjoy "Passengers". Pratt and Lawrence (Aurora Lane) are beautiful on screen together, no surprise there. 

This film did what I think science fiction does at its best: I made me think. Perhaps when you go to see it, it will give you something to think about too.

When you watch it (and I certainly encourage you to do so) ask yourself, what would you do if your were Jim Preston or Aurora Lane?

Feel free to post your answer in the comments