When it was announced that Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt were collaborating on a new movie, I, as a common white girl, lost all control and had ability to contain my excitement. When it was further announced that the movie would be a futuristic space epic I, as a proclaimed nerd, was basically convinced that this movie was sent from the heavens.
But first, watch the trailer here
The trailer (released last Tuesday) offers just the right amount of insight into the plot of the movie, which is actually a pretty good one, assuming the apparent twist they’re going to throw in isn’t completely awful. The basic premise is that JLaw and Pratt are two of several hundred people aboard a space ship/station called the Avalon, and everyone on the ship has been voluntarily placed in a scientific coma which, after 150 years, they will wake from and restart their lives. However, something has gone wrong with our leads’ hibernation pod and the pair wake up 90 years too soon. They realize this is a major problem because they are seemingly the only live, functioning people on a gigantic ship they can’t escape with no viable way to get food. Things escalate when they realize that something terrible is happening aboard the ship and perhaps it was no accident that they woke up, and Pratt’s character seems to know more than he’s letting on.
At first glance the thing that immediately jumps out to me about this moving is the stunning visual effects. This movie looks beautiful all around. I’m really excited to see this movie in theaters because if nothing else it’s sure to be a gorgeous visual journey. Additionally, Jennifer Lawrence looks better than she ever has, if that’s even possible. From the trailer alone I can tell that her acting is going to be phenomenal. Something tells me this movie will get at least a couple Oscars nominations.
The pairing of Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence seems like an odd choice for a movie of this nature, and it’s painfully obvious that they Pratt was chosen more for marketing than anything else. Don’t get me wrong, I love Chris Pratt, but he’s definetely better suited for comedy than serious gigs. A comedy starring Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence would have been a better route because Pratt’s action portrayals always seem more like Andy Dwyer (Pratt’s character on Parks & Recreation) trying to be serious. It’s not to say his serious acting is bad — I think he did a fine job in Jurassic World — but there are many other actors I would have chosen for this role over Pratt.
The trailer definitely peaks my interest, and it’s clear that this is going to be as much a romance as it is a sci-fy thriller. I’m genuinely curious as to what went wrong on the ship and I hope that their is some genuine motive behind the answer. The trailer is littered with cliches (“Do you trust me?”, “You die, I die”, “There’s a reason insert bad thing here”), so while I really do hope that the ending will offer something I haven’t seen before, I’m trying not to get my hopes up.
I think this movie will be worth seeing (even for the visuals alone), and its Christmas release will guarantee big bank at the box office. My love for Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt makes this movie a no-brainer — I’m not quite sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
What did you guys think of the trailer? Does Passengers look like a movie you’ll go see?
