In 2016 these two sci-fi films were released.
While one was slow paced and a bit “meh” and received rave reviews, the other was far more entertaining and enjoyable but received a lower rating (on rotten tomatoes which I don’t rate) and was criticised for being a “creepy ode to manipulation”.
I’m talking of course about Passengers and Arrival.
If you haven’t seen either, let me sum it up for you with the (partial) help of Wikipedia and IMDB.
Passengers:
“The Avalon, a sleeper ship transporting 5,000 colonists and 258 crew members in hibernation pods, is on course to the planet Homestead II, a journey lasting 120 years. Thirty years into the journey, an asteroid collision damages the ship and causes its computer to awaken one passenger, mechanical engineer James "Jim" Preston (Chris Pratt), 90 years too early.”
After a year of solitude and loneliness, Jim must make an agonising choice. Live the rest of his life out alone and die before reaching the destination, or wake up another sleeping passenger thus condemning them to the same fate as himself.
Arrival:
“Linguistics professor Louise Banks leads an elite team of investigators when gigantic spaceships touchdown in 12 locations around the world.
As nations teeter on the verge of global war, Banks and her crew must race against time to find a way to communicate with the extraterrestrial visitors.
Hoping to unravel the mystery, she takes a chance that could threaten her life and quite possibly all of mankind.”
I’ll admit that Arrival is nicely filmed, quite clever and well acted, but when I watch a film I want to be entertained.
I’ve watched Arrival once and probably wouldn’t watch it again. I’ve seen Passengers a number of times and put it on whenever I see it playing on TV.
The characters in it are likeable, it looks good, the chemistry between Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence is believe and in general, it’s a good film!
I get frustrated when dull films get raved about. It’s almost like it’s cool to like them coz they’re “arty”. Well I’m not “arty” I just want a bit of escapism and don’t want to feel like I’ve just wasted 2 hours of my life at the end of a movie.
Am I wrong? Have you seen these films? What are your thought?
Let me know. 👍