A few SPOILERISH thoughts about PACIFIC RIM, which we saw this weekend: 1) I enjoyed the hell out of this movie. Often I find disaster movies disappointing, since it doesn’t feel like a real victory to rescue the love interest after thousands of other innocents have lost their lives just to set the conflict in motion. This movie proceeded in such a satisfying manner, however, that I witnessed horrors with a goofy grin on my face. It probably helped that the characters acknowledged that the world was ending, so we could surrender to the excitement of the moment without pondering the terrible cost of reconstruction. (“If you can’t give me redemption, at least give me closure!”) When human survival is in question, any victory at all is oddly satisfying. 2) While I enjoyed the movie thoroughly – the characters, the conflicts, the images and sound, the dialogue, the pacing and execution - I didn’t find the story itself all that compelling, so the “Star Wars for a new generation” reviews don’t apply. This movie was built on emotional distance more than emotional involvement. No matter – the result didn’t suck. 3) I often resent details that stand out as comic relief, since it’s not actually necessary to depart from the drama to find a few laughs, and too often the drama suffers from the attempt. (Just ask C-3P0.) This flick worked mostly as a sum of its parts, though, and the comic relief scenes were amusing and relevant. Actually, I probably related to the nerdy characters the most. 4) While the protagonist was a white dude, I enjoyed how metropolitan the movie was. The drama and action were not seen through the lens of New York or Los Angeles. All the characters arrived with baggage, strengths and personal obstacles. The comely ass-kicking heroine was Asian but was not presented as a door prize or an exotic bombshell. Even the costume choices supported dramatic story over eye-candy spectacle. 5) A friend recommended I see it on the biggest screen I could find. I saw it in 2D in a conventional theater and immediately understood the advice – this movie was intended to reach beyond the limits of our vision in every direction. Some friends have suggested that the action was often lost in murky underwater cinematography, but I’m happy enough that they erred on the side of keeping the monsters in the shadows. 6) In the end I do think the more interesting parts of the story – specifically “the drift”, the world of memories and shared visions where the characters might lose themselves, or find one another - were set aside in favor of the action. That’s understandable, given the number of plot threads to be resolved, and it wasn’t a big problem, since even the dopiest monster battle benefits from a backdrop of mystical intrigue. But it does suggest an even richer version of the movie that might have emerged from the depths – or may arise still, to wreak havoc on DVD, Blu-Ray and digital download, through which the most awesome of leviathans might conquer our handheld digital devices. Little did we realize that the miniaturization of our media screens might in itself anticipate the collapse of civilization.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 18:48:38 +0000
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