People are flocking online to review-bomb a film starring Jennifer Lawrence, which is among her lowest-rated movies, even though it was released over seven years ago.
Some actors might hope that by releasing numerous films, the less successful ones will fade into obscurity while the notable ones will be remembered. Unfortunately for Jennifer Lawrence, this seems not to be the case, even nearly a decade later.
The sci-fi romance, Passengers, was penned by Jon Spaihts, who is best known for co-writing Dune, and directed by Morten Tyldum, who directed The Imitation Game.
The film features not only Jennifer Lawrence but also Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen (Good Omens), and Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix).
Passengers revolves around a sleeper ship carrying people in hibernation pods from Earth to another planet 120 years away after humans have destroyed Earth.
However, the ship sustains damage from an asteroid just 30 years into the journey, waking up a mechanical engineer who is then faced with a moral dilemma about whether to endure being awake almost alone.
When released in 2016, despite the prominent names attached, Passengers did not fare well with critics.
Despite its box office success, grossing $303.1 million globally on a $110-150 million budget according to Box Office Mojo, and being nominated for Best Original Score and Best Production Design at the 89th Academy Awards, Passengers earned a 30 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes.
However, its audience score was relatively better, at 63 percent.
Reviewers in 2024 who have recently discovered the film haven’t been kind in their reviews on Letterboxd, where it holds an overall rating of 2.8 out of five.
One user gave the film two-and-a-half stars, commenting: “Fun plot and premise but just doesn’t hit home for some reason even though it had two actors in their prime. Nevertheless, for some reason this movie falls into my ‘I know it’s not good but I want to keep watching it’ bucket.”
Another user rated it two stars, stating: “Zzzzz kinda bored.”
A third reviewer gave it one-and-a-half stars, saying: “Ugh no.”
However, there were also those who defended the film.
One user, rating it three-and-a-half stars, remarked: “Not sure why this film has such a low rating. Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence have great chemistry. The film may seem a little far fetched but we’re dealing with space so why not? A thoroughly enjoyable film it has to be said. Harshly judged and I don’t know why.”
Another concluded: “There’s so many ways for this to be better. Still didn’t hate it though.”
So, what do you think?