You expected Solaris starring J-Law and Chris Pratt?
Well I have to expect something from a 90 minute feature length film, don't I?
And the only way to get that for 90 minutes (which is reaaaally long once you actually have to write it, or sit through it when it's a bad movie) is in the vein of exploring a complex dramatic situation. Remember that Clooney wasn't that big into his 'drama actor' turn either, mostly just 'action movie man' at that point. (he played dramatic characters in Three Kings and other movies, but he didn't have to carry the full 90 minutes with just him and co-actress. That's a big difference).
It's pretty obvious, given the context of the story, that the initial pitch was meant to be more focused on drama. I mean, it's in the goddamn title of the movie: passengers (on the stream of life). Knowing that Keanu Reeves was attached to it at one point makes more sense to me since his stoic personality would fit a 'Kubrian tale' if you will. I would probably have gone to see that version, actually. In terms of holistic aesthetics, that just makes more sense by default.
I did not expect it from those specific actors, no. But the script / story / theme only works in a certain direction, where those actors they decided to hire are hilariously bad fits.
It's kind of a shame because at least it looks like they threw some money at it. Also: why is that ship clearly a luxury liner yet it has people in stasis? That doesn't make any sense. At all.
Pandorum made more sense in that regard. I would recommend that movie. And Event Horizon for Christmas, of course.
We don't need elves where we're going!
also, on the topic of writer Jon Spaihts, he is really lucky to have a credit on Doctor Strange, because the other movie he wrote is The Mummy, and I expect that movie to bomb hard. Well, except if China saves it. But that one looks awful on every level. *double scream*
edit: oh no, McQuarrie co-wrote that too as Tom Cruise's screenwriter guy? Man, I hope that movie doesn't end a good deal. Also, the other movie Spaihts is on is 'Van Helsing' co-written with Kurzman.... yeah, he's really lucky with that Strange credit.
And on the topic of star power: you guys aren't adding the added decay weights to female actors versus male actors. Male actor stardom wanes slower, whereas an actress (see 17% of roles) decays at something like 4 times as quickly. And 30 years of age appears a hard cut-off too, if you, like me, spend way too much time on imdb. Help?
edit2: I also suspect Facebook aggregation effects are now way more meaningful than any other indicator, like "star power". Train to Busan and other movies are basically all promoted through people's social networks and have nobody anyone would recognize, yet they're still watching it. The problem with that "success becomes more success" effect is that you either need to spend ridiculous amount of money on marketing to ensure certain effects (which can still fail, see Ghostbusters), or you need to get lucky and spend as little as possible on a wide range of 'see what sticks' products.
