After the success of The Imitation Game, director Morten Tyldum has become a name people want at the helm of their next blockbuster.

Now he is embarking the world of sci-fi with two huge A-list actors. With this film also being a Christmas release, high expectations were certainly being planted into this project.

I'm afraid to say that there is a part of me that consider this to be a disappointment. However, it is certainly not a bad film.

It opens up to an interesting concept, and it was moving along nicely. As for the second act, it is not as engaging as the first one was. The writers seem to not think of anymore ideas on where the concept in the first act could go. So they added something to move it along. It's fine what they do. But I was more interested in what was happening before that. Then in the final act, while thrilling, it is pretty formulaic and predictable.

The performances were solid on the whole. Chris Pratt was good. His charisma keeps you engaged, he was given good depth, and his general execution was very satisfying. Jennifer Lawrence was definitely inferior. But she still did good with what she had. Michael Sheen was pretty good in his minor role. It is a shame that he recently announced that he is quitting from acting to be involved in activism, as his performance reminded how good of an actor he still is.

Its strongest positives are most definitely the visual effects and score. The CGI mixed really well with the set designs. It was great to look at, and the technology shown in this film was clever and very believable.
The score by Thomas Newman felt really dreamy throughout. It felt the right type of score to have for the setting that this film had. I always love a good score, and I wouldn't be embarrassed to go back and listen to this.

Sadly, there are some fairly strong negatives to speak about. The script was pretty basic and weak. There was no depth to it and little or no comedic moments that made me laugh.
The story as a whole is nothing spectacular and has a fair amount of flaws when you break it down. In terms of action and set-pieces, there is very little you have not seen before. There were a lot of moments that reminded of films like Prometheus, Cast Away and Gravity.

First and foremost, it is a disappointment. There is great opportunity in the concept, and it was sadly wasted. But if you go into it with low expectations and switch your mind off, then you can get a good time out of it. It's great to look at, I certainly wasn't bored watching it, Pratt and Lawrence are good together, and they both move the film along well. Sadly, it did not feel memorable or give anything new to the sci-fi genre. It did not make me want to watch it again or own a copy of it.
It would be interesting to see this film without Pratt and Lawrence as the leads. It may have been a much less enjoyable or terrible ride.

Rating: 7/10