Just like with Infinite (see previous review) this has an interesting underlying premise – but it’s not executed very well despite a ‘game’ cast.
And just like with Infinite, this was initially intended as a major cinematic release, as Colin Farrell shepherds a group of teenage astronauts on a spaceship for the most important mission in mankind’s history.
They’re a group of genetically-modified babies – now grown up to include Tye Sheridan (Ready Player One), Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk) and Johnny Depp/Vanessa Paradis’ daughter Lily-Rose Depp – that have been sent on a multi-generational voyage to a different solar system on a quest that will take 86 years, to help find resources by colonising an Earth-like planet. And sadly it’s their grandchildren that will make it, not them. The only thing they’ll know for their entire life is the solitude of this vessel.
But when the youngsters realise they’ve been taking a stimulation-numbing substance to prevent them from descending into paranoia and madness – all their subdued ‘teen angst’ and hormones come alive like a ‘firecracker’ exploding for good and for worst.
Which leads to a very ‘Lord of the Flies in Space’ experience where the journey isn’t anywhere near as exciting as what the destination could have been – and it proves to be a disappointingly uneventful affair.
Voyagers simply never takes off.
ESP Rating: 2/5
Gavin Miller
Platform: Sky Cinema
Cast: Tye Sheridan, Lily-Rose Depp, Fionn Whitehead, Chante Adams, Archie Madekwe, Quintessa Swindell, Viveik Kalra & Colin Farrell
Running Time: 1 Hr 48 Mins
Director: Neil Burger