65

2023 Sony Pictures

Rated: PG-13

Length: 1hr 33 min

Action ~ Adventure ~ Drama ~ Sci-Fi ~ Thriller

Directed by: Scott Beck and Bryan Woods.

Starring: Adam Driver and Ariana Greenblatt.

“Prior to the advent of Mankind, in the infinity of space, other civilizations explored the heavens….65 Million years ago, a visitor crashed landed on Earth.”

Adam Driver stars as Mills , a pilot from the planet Somaris. His daughter is sick and needs a lot of very expensive medical treatments. An opportunity arises that would pay him three times his normal salary, but it would involve being gone from home for two years. His wife convinces Mills to take the job piloting a two year space expedition because it would enable them to get the treatment his daughter needs.

With the journey underway and the passengers in Cryostasis, Mills has the ship on autopilot as he sleeps. The spaceship encounters an undocumented asteroid field (same thing happened in Passengers) and is hit and damaged before Mills can get to the Pilot’s chair. He tries to manually maneuver the spaceship through the asteroid field but it is too late and they get struck again. The spaceship is forced to make an emergency landing on the undocumented planet they are near.

When they crash land the spaceship splits in two and the Cryostasis compartment is compromised killing all the passengers. Mills thinks he is alone on an unknown and undocumented planet God knows where. He sees no hope and contemplates suicide but then discovers a cryogenic chamber still intact with a young girl inside. He rescues her and takes her back to the wrecked Spaceship. Her name is Koa (Ariana Greenblatt) and being from a different planet speaks a different language that Mills does not know.

Mills has detected the other half of the spaceship 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) away and realizes their only hope of survival and getting back home is to make it to the other half where the escape pod is. What follows is an edge of your seat thrilling journey through prehistoric Earth 65 million years ago. Not being able to verbally communicate Mills and Koa use gestures and a primitive form of sign language. They soon discover on their journey to the escape pod that Primitive Earth is a very hostile environment full of carnivores and other perils.

I found myself jumping a few times as surprises waited around every corner of their journey. It was funny at times watching the two of them try to communicate and get used to one another. I thought Adam Driver and Ariana Greenblatt did an excellent job. I am not familiar with Arianna but I really liked how she portrayed Koa and will look for her in the future.

An excellent Sci-Fi Adventure thriller!

Two Thumbs Up!

Atlas

2024 Netflix

Rated: PG-13

Length: 1hr 58 min

Action ~ Adventure ~ Drama ~ Sci-Fi

Directed by: Brad Peyton

Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Simu Liu, Sterling K. Brown, and Mark Strong.

“Across the globe artificial intelligence bots ranging from transportation to medical and home maintenance have all bypassed their security protocols. AI bots have killed over one million civilians with no end in sight. To combat the threat, we have assembled a coalition force, The International Coalition of Nations.”

Jennifer Lopez stars as Atlas Shepherd, an Analyst working for the ICN (International Coalition of Nations) which was formed in 2043 when an A.I. Robot named Harlan Shepherd (Simu Liu) led a revolt of A.I. Robots and machines against mankind. Harlan was forced to leave Earth following the ICN‘s string of victories against the AI uprising. Now, 28 years later, Atlas and the ICN are still trying to hunt down the elusive Harlan Shepherd.

One of Harlan’s AI agents is captured on Earth and after interrogating him, Atlas tricks him into revealing where Harlan is holed up in the galaxy. He had escaped to a planet in The Andromeda Galaxy and a Military Mission is organized to find and capture him. Atlas insists she accompany the Mission as she knows Harlan better than anyone and has very personal reasons for finding Harlan.

Atlas’s Mother made Harlan, and Atlas and Harlan basically grew up together before Harlan overwrote his protocol and instigated the AI Revolution. Atlas joins the ICN Rangers on their Mission to The Andromeda Galaxy accompanied by their giant human controlled Robots called Mechs. Just as the spaceship enters the planet’s atmosphere, they are attacked and Atlas is forced to evacuate the ship in a mech herself that she has no idea how to control.

It is controlled by AI that calls itself Smith and is supposed to pair with the human operating the mech, but Atlas has a huge mistrust of AI thanks to Harlan and refuses to pair with the AI. What follows is an adventure on a hostile planet to find and capture Harlan, while Atlas bickers incessantly with the AI Smith about who is in control. As they venture forward you can see a bond build and Atlas starts to trust Smith and eventually agrees to pair with the AI for the benefit of their survival.

Their are long passages of scene and dialogue where it is just Jennifer Lopez and the voice of Smith as they banter and work things out Human to AI robot. I think she did a good job at portraying Atlas in those moments, it had to be difficult to capture those emotions solo with no other physical actor to bounce off of. There are times when it reminded me of The Terminator and I Robot. Given the current explosion of AI in our daily lives it is an interesting look at the downside of AI.

I thought it was pretty good.

An enjoyable Sci-fi AI Adventure.

Two thumbs up

Passengers

2016 Columbia Pictures

Rated: PG-13

Length: 1 hr 56min

Sci-Fi ~ Romance ~ Drama

Directed By: Morten Tyldum

Starring: Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Sheen, Laurence Fishburne, and Andy García.

“Say you were trapped on a desert island, and you had the power to wish somebody there with you. You wouldn’t be alone anymore, but you’d be stranding the person on the island. Would you make that wish?”

Chris Pratt stars as Jim Preston, a mechanic travelling aboard the Starship Avalon. He is one of 5000 Passengers and 258 Crew headed for the planet Homestead II as part of a colonization program. The ship is on autopilot and everyone aboard is in suspended animation sleep in hibernation pods during the 120 year voyage from Earth to Homestead II. The ship encounters a meteor shower and is damaged by a meteorite that gets past the ship’s protection shield. Jim’s hibernation pod malfunctions and he is wakened 90 years too early.

Jennifer Lawrence stars as Aurora Lane, a writer making the voyage to write a story about the voyage and the Planet Homestead II. Over the year Jim is awake alone on the ship he sees Aurora in her hibernation pod and becomes obsessed with her and her passenger profile video. After many alcohol fueled arguments with himself and a failed suicide attempt, he decides he is going to wake her up by making her pod malfunction.

What follows is the story of how they grow together and fall in love as they deal with being the only two people awake on a spaceship damaged by a meteorite for the next 90 years. With the exception of Arthur(Michael Sheen) the humanoid bartender they share their lives with and a brief appearance by Deck Chief Gus Mancuso(Laurence Fishburne) after his pod malfunctions, they share in an adventure of life, love and peril alone as they hurl through the heavens towards Homestead II.

I have seen this movie several times and love it. The chemistry between Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt is great. It’s as if you were right there with them through all they experience. An excellent Sci-fi Romance Drama!

Highly Recommended!

Two Thumbs Up!