Its time for the inaugural article of Bronwyn's EPIC WINS: Pacific Rim SPOILER ALERT
I've seen quite a bit of awesome stuff this summer, but Pacific Rim was just about perfect. Normally when I look at a movie and judge its quality, I have several categories
1) How much shakycam the movie uses (AKA how much i want to throw up while watching it)
2) The chemistry of the romantic relationship, aka how important it is to the plot
2(a) if lack thereof, I observe the quality of the relationships between characters
3). Quality of special effects
4). Originality of the plot. Plot holes make dents in this rating (lol)
5). The overall inspirational value of the film. AKA if I walk out of the film shaking, wanting to make my life better, this is an epic win!
6). How well this movie did what it aimed to do.
Now I know this is a pretty generic rubric, similar to what many other people think movies should be judged by. I think its actually pretty generous. I don't nitpick a movie unless its in my area of interest. And yes, this move employs some psychology, so yes, I did judge it pretty harshly.
Pacific rim had full marks across the board.
No shakycam. Thank God! I was starting to think Guillermo del Torro was going to go that route that many Sci Fi directors have succomed to. I always thought it was a cheap trick intended to garner more interest in a movie without buffing up the plot. I failed to realize that Torro first won my heart with the only horror movie I ever loved- The Orphanage! Then he won my heart with horror/folklore hit Pans Labyrinth. He then tried his hand at science fiction-fantasy/adventure. With this, I noted that Torro is a fantasy/sci fi jack of all trades. He is close to Movie Creator God status as far as I'm concerned.
The fact that there was seemingly no OVERT romantic relationship in the film makes it very unique but the chemistry of the platonic relationship between the male and female leads was startling. They were literally brain-bonded all throughout the film and had a genuine respect for each other. So few movies have this. Way to go, del Torro. (Or, at least I hope a sex scene didn't occur when i went to the bathroom. In that case: BLEECH!) I would give anything to have someone like that in my life, male or female, that I could work with that well.
The relationship between father and son, brothers, and partners was spot-on. I love the respect between Stryker and Rider.
Never so much has a movie emphasized the importance of respect in a working relationship and the negative effects it has when respect falls apart. Now boys, there was no tits in this movie. No gratuitous nudity. Just great moral values portrayed in a way that I can only describe as fucking awesome. This movie was feminist-positive in all the right ways.
The special effects were pretty awesome. It was obvious that there was some money spent in the making of this movie. About seventy five percent of the movie was heavy fantasy action and there was one scene that was worth the price of the movie. That is all I'm saying there.
The plot was, in my humble opinion, VERY original. I only guessed what was going to happen three times throughout the film. Each time I was proud of myself and said "SCORE!"
Here is my only problem with the film. As an aspiring psychologist, I tend to look for plot points that follow what I teach in my classes. And here is is: The Split Brain phenomenon. In the film two pilots that are psychologically compatible each used one half of their brain to pilot a mecha. Here's the problem. The human brain can survive if the corpus callosum is cut. But, if so, can one half of one brain work with the other half of another's? C'mon guys, that's a bit of a stretch of realism. Very entertaining, but I had to suspend my disbelief a bit. Of course, many points of this film breached science fiction and went into fantasy, so it is plausible. As a psychologist, I am quizzical.
This movie is high budget that actually lived up to the hype. All jokes and characters were funny, and the movie took itself seriously because it could. In my opinion, this movie personifies that sparring partner that always looked me in the eye, did not brag about his prowess, bowed to me and proceeded to beat me into oblivion. All the while it let me get a couple of good shots in just to make me feel good. At the end, it helped me up off the ground, shook my hand, and said "Thanks for coming out."
Yeah, this movie rocked me.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to watch Raxephon.
1) How much shakycam the movie uses (AKA how much i want to throw up while watching it)
2) The chemistry of the romantic relationship, aka how important it is to the plot
2(a) if lack thereof, I observe the quality of the relationships between characters
3). Quality of special effects
4). Originality of the plot. Plot holes make dents in this rating (lol)
5). The overall inspirational value of the film. AKA if I walk out of the film shaking, wanting to make my life better, this is an epic win!
6). How well this movie did what it aimed to do.
Now I know this is a pretty generic rubric, similar to what many other people think movies should be judged by. I think its actually pretty generous. I don't nitpick a movie unless its in my area of interest. And yes, this move employs some psychology, so yes, I did judge it pretty harshly.
Pacific rim had full marks across the board.
No shakycam. Thank God! I was starting to think Guillermo del Torro was going to go that route that many Sci Fi directors have succomed to. I always thought it was a cheap trick intended to garner more interest in a movie without buffing up the plot. I failed to realize that Torro first won my heart with the only horror movie I ever loved- The Orphanage! Then he won my heart with horror/folklore hit Pans Labyrinth. He then tried his hand at science fiction-fantasy/adventure. With this, I noted that Torro is a fantasy/sci fi jack of all trades. He is close to Movie Creator God status as far as I'm concerned.
The fact that there was seemingly no OVERT romantic relationship in the film makes it very unique but the chemistry of the platonic relationship between the male and female leads was startling. They were literally brain-bonded all throughout the film and had a genuine respect for each other. So few movies have this. Way to go, del Torro. (Or, at least I hope a sex scene didn't occur when i went to the bathroom. In that case: BLEECH!) I would give anything to have someone like that in my life, male or female, that I could work with that well.
The relationship between father and son, brothers, and partners was spot-on. I love the respect between Stryker and Rider.
Never so much has a movie emphasized the importance of respect in a working relationship and the negative effects it has when respect falls apart. Now boys, there was no tits in this movie. No gratuitous nudity. Just great moral values portrayed in a way that I can only describe as fucking awesome. This movie was feminist-positive in all the right ways.
The special effects were pretty awesome. It was obvious that there was some money spent in the making of this movie. About seventy five percent of the movie was heavy fantasy action and there was one scene that was worth the price of the movie. That is all I'm saying there.
The plot was, in my humble opinion, VERY original. I only guessed what was going to happen three times throughout the film. Each time I was proud of myself and said "SCORE!"
Here is my only problem with the film. As an aspiring psychologist, I tend to look for plot points that follow what I teach in my classes. And here is is: The Split Brain phenomenon. In the film two pilots that are psychologically compatible each used one half of their brain to pilot a mecha. Here's the problem. The human brain can survive if the corpus callosum is cut. But, if so, can one half of one brain work with the other half of another's? C'mon guys, that's a bit of a stretch of realism. Very entertaining, but I had to suspend my disbelief a bit. Of course, many points of this film breached science fiction and went into fantasy, so it is plausible. As a psychologist, I am quizzical.
This movie is high budget that actually lived up to the hype. All jokes and characters were funny, and the movie took itself seriously because it could. In my opinion, this movie personifies that sparring partner that always looked me in the eye, did not brag about his prowess, bowed to me and proceeded to beat me into oblivion. All the while it let me get a couple of good shots in just to make me feel good. At the end, it helped me up off the ground, shook my hand, and said "Thanks for coming out."
Yeah, this movie rocked me.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to watch Raxephon.