The Apocalypse is Here: Out of Left Quadrant

This week’s assemblage of films includes:

· Pacific Rim

· Pacific Rim: Uprising

· Megamind

· Ready Player One

The focal feature will be Pacific Rim.

Imagine a sonar detector – but on a spaceship. You see a little yellow blip in an otherwise sea of blue appear on the upper left side of the screen. It beeps as it slowly approaches the ship, and then suddenly, it disappears. It’s a bogie, your commanding officer says. You dismiss it.

This is a strange way to describe these films, I suppose. It’s the truth. Some of these films were promoted heavily prior to their release and subsequently almost forgotten. For better or for worse, the best have mingled with the worst and retired to relative obscurity. It might be a stretch to include a few on this list, and some were left off of the list to avoid duplicate films over the weeks. Spacetime and everything else is relative, however, and for films like Ready Player One that were advertised so extremely, the lack of an impact they had on popular culture is devastating. Megamind, on the other hand, came before its time but has all the makings of a Despicable Me-type film. And, while it’s at it, it tackles the toxic masculinity that makes men think being a “nice guy” gets them the girl. It’s a shame that it’s not more popular.

Now, I highly suggest that you watch all of these films. This recommendation includes even Pacific Rim: Uprising, but I’m still too emotionally attached to really criticize it. Fortunately, time has cleaved my heart from its predecessor Pacific Rim, so I can be fair enough to give an honest review. It is truly a shame that some of these films ended up in the same category, and while that is fully my fault, I couldn’t justify creating categories specifically for them to end up on top. Perhaps some other time, under a different star, I’ll find a way to sneak them into something. For now, I plead that you give them all a chance.

Pacific Rim follows retired Jaeger pilot Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) as he rejoins the Pan Pacific Defense Corps (PPDC). As the last person alive who has previously piloted a certain model of Jaeger, giant humanoid robots with weaponry, the PPDC has no other option than to re-recruit him. Once back, he meets Mako Mori (Rink Kikuchi), adopted daughter of Marshall Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba). Becket also encounters the remains of the K-Science division: Dr. Newton Geiszler (Charlie Day) and Dr. Hermann Gottlieb (Burn Gorman), a biologist and mathematician respectively. With not many more pilots and technicians staffing the last resistance’s skeleton crew against the Kaiju, everyone involved must step up and become the hero they need to be in order to save the earth from sure destruction. Monsters, called kaijus, are rising from portals at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and are wiping out coastal settlements at an ever faster pace.

As I probably don’t have to say, Guillermo del Toro is a legendary, Academy Award-winning director. His approach to this film is one of the factors that has led to its cult following, as he wished to avoid the trend of pessimistic sci-fi and the militaristic ways in which films rely on recruitment techniques for advertisement. While Pacific Rim: Uprising threw this out the window with their online games for which you had to “enlist” for, the use of nontraditional rankings within the PPDC as well as the statement that they are a resistant force lends a hopeful quality to it. As Poe Dameron says in one of the Star Wars films, “We are the spark that’ll light the fire..” Pacific Rim harnesses the feelings associated with resistance to excellent effect. Things are worn down and faded yet still colorful. The neutral color of the Hong Kong Shatterdome is a deep shade of brown, keeping the visuals warm at their most bleak. Attention is paid to the minutest of details in order to ensure that this resistance is one that inspires optimism rather than reinforce a sense of fatality.

This plot is, like last week’s film, a common storyline. It is the stunning cast of characters (and of course, how the actors bring them to life) is what differentiates this film and makes it so enduring. The lovable and manic Dr. Geiszler’s obsession with kaiju leads to one of the most important developments in the in-universe plot to defeat the kaiju, while the equally lovable yet caustic and stern Dr. Gottlieb’s desire to be taken seriously pushes Dr. Geiszler to the edge. In the end, their begrudging respect for each other plays a key role in saving the world. Outside of the K-Sci realm is the pilots division. Raleigh has a certain cockiness to him, but it is tinged with the sadness of loss and injury; he is empathetic to those around him. For all of his confidence, he remains grounded. On the other hand, Mako is physically a champion in every way. She fights to be more than her past even as she can’t escape it emotionally. She has to learn to let go, and as the only person who is drift compatible with Becket, she must do it fast. Marshall Pentecost is a quietly composed tempest, which is guaranteed to be a cliché, but it is the best way to describe him. He can be aggressive at the drop of a pin if it is needed, but his composure is what is so threatening rather than his anger. Even more minor characters like Tendo Choi (Clifton Collins Jr.) and Hannibal Chau (Ron Perlman) are deeply developed and personalized during their screen time. These characters drive the plot, which is a seemingly obvious and simple thing to say. I stand by it. So many films, among other types of media, feel as if the plot is something happening to the characters without the characters being something that truly affects the plot.

I’ll admit that I don’t know enough about kaiju / monster film history to properly judge the Kaiju in the film, but to the untrained eye they were spectacular. The Kaiju check every box in terms of fear factor, coolness, danger, and weird backstory. The Precursors are similarly interesting but not explained well. It doesn’t harm the progression of the film – in fact, I think a lengthy explanation would have done more harm were it to have happened. I am just absolutely obsessed with lore in films. The tech was clunky and homespun, capitalizing on the resistance vibes. The Jaegers were just as fun and varied as the Kaiju, but again, I don’t know enough of my fighting-robot film history to judge if it was an outstanding example for the genre or if I am alone in thinking they were well-crafted.

I would be amiss to not mention the film’s impact on feminism in film. Inspired by Mako Mori, the Mako Mori test became popular online in the years after Pacific Rim’s release. This test is often treated like a companion to the Bechdel test. To pass this test, there must be a female character who has a narrative arc that was not created to support the narrative arc of a male character. While this test is not as widely known or perhaps accepted as the Bechdel test, I think it is an important way at looking at female characters. For a film that is underrated outside of its cult following, Pacific Rim has had a resounding impact on the way we view works of film and fiction.

Besides the impact on feminism in film, Pacific Rim has also created a growing franchise for itself. Pacific Rim: Uprising, as I mentioned, is the sequel to Pacific Rim. It is an excellent film in certain regards, and it feels lazy in others, but what truly kills me is a specific character duo. To avoid spoilers I’ll say nothing more. Besides this sequel film, there are comics based within the franchise’s universe, and there also will be an anime adaptation of the original film debuting on Netflix at some point in 2020.

Does this list not have enough monsters for your taste? Make way for Godzilla. Next week, the kaiju arrive.  

Indira Ramgolam is a Culture writer and sophomore in Columbia College.