— SPOILER ALERT —

This cutting edge survival story had so many great moments. The ingenious futuristic technology is paralleled by the breathtaking cinematic shots of the all-consuming final frontier that this film takes place within. The jokes are well placed, the characters are beautifully scripted, and all in all this is a fun movie to watch. So where is the dilemma?

An ending makes or breaks any film. It has been my observation that, more often than not, a movie that does something unthought of, that is unpredictable, is the one that steals the hearts and minds of audiences. Passengers just simply does not hold up to this standard. Before you even watch the movie there is already the underlying assumption that Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence) and Jim (Chris Pratt) will fall in love. So one would hope the story would evolve from there, but it never does. She finds out he is the reason she is awake, she gets upset, then all the sudden there is no option but to work with him to save the ship, and they live happily ever after. Where is the plot? The twist?

Most of this story is meant to pull sympathy from the audience. Jim is alone, stranded among those who will outlive him in a life he was meant to live. Of course he would want to wake her up: misery loves company. She had aspirations, a plan, a life, and he took that away from her. So do we understand him or hate him? The story opens doors for argument, has a totally unique setting and story, but like I said: the ending makes or breaks a film.

In this case, Passengers falls flat. The happy ending takes away from the raw tension that the situation puts forth. Right or wrong, to wake or not to wake, those questions will haunt viewers long after the credits roll, but by accepting their fates, the characters and the overall movie fails to transcend into the realm of classics.