You know what I love as much as I love heavy metal? Monsters and robots, that’s what, and Pacific Rim was the best movie I saw this year containing those things that I truly love. Turns out this movie had more than what I was expecting which is more than just good enough for me, it’s perfect.
Unlike most movies revolving around some kind of fictional military that the U.S. has, it doesn’t begin from the start of the war. It fast forwards into the middle of the war which is not something we may be used to seeing. The story centers upon a monstrous alien race called the Kaijus who instead of coming from outer space they came from a portal deep on the floor of the Pacific Ocean. The military obviously as you can tell wasn’t enough to beat these creatures so years later the the humans create their own monsters called Jaegers which are giant robots piloted by two soldiers connected by their minds and memories to fight. Talk about creativity with an interesting way of putting it all together if you ask me what I think of this. Looking at Jaegers I am instantly reminded of Transformers. Gipsy Danger was definitely the coolest Jaeger in the film. It goes on to be piloted by Raleigh and Mako which is the perfect connection for the fight. At the same time also a scientist named Newton Geiszler is trying to find out more about the Kaijus and how they think. He also believes that if he connects to a Kaiju’s brain he can figure out how to destroy the breach linking Earth to the world the Kaijus come from. All comes down to knowing your enemy. The better you know them, the better the chances you have of defeating them. A lot of collateral damaged was caused by the battles in this movie (again cue the same Transformers thing where you have a lot of that as well) but at least this movie does center around what I am hoping it would be about and what it really is about: aliens and robots.
The characters by far, I am impressed with but there was one character that I liked the most and it was Mako Mori. Now the reason why I became attached to her is not only because I like the female protagonist, (in this case it greatly depends on what the lead female character does) but also she is exactly what I expect out of a female protagonist. When it comes to action movies, sci-fi, fantasy, etc. if there’s a female protagonist I like it when she is made to be something more than what females are made stereo-typically as. For instance, one type of female protagonist that I can’t stand at all is the damsel in distress which is probably the most common female protagonist used in movies: weak, helpless, passive, dependent, beautiful and all she really is is just the male protagonist’s love interest and that’s it, for example Carly in Transformers Dark of the Moon, Mary Jane Watson in the Spider Man trilogy, etc. I don’t like the usage of the damsel in distress because even though it’s just in movies, it makes us women feel that we always need a man to save us and that we cannot defend ourselves, take care of ourselves, are weak, and passive. I’m sick of these stereotypes. I like it when the female protagonist is assertive, knows how to fight/defend herself, doesn’t always need rescuing but can sometimes rescue others, takes part in the action by actually doing something strongly contributing rather than just something simple, and it’s okay for them to be the male protagonist’s love interest but I think that they should be more than just that. Mako met all those expectations I hope for out of a female protagonist and I wish more action movies had characters like her. Another big expectation I have with female protagonists is that they don’t have to be perfect looking. They can have some features of beauty but perfection is not necessary. Mako isn’t perfect, and I think guys wouldn’t really drool over her on the screen but it’s what’s inside that matters. Sometimes there’s the usage of the female protagonist that does fight and is a warrior and all but she may barely have any clothes on like Wonder Woman, and if these female characters are half naked all the time I don’t like that. Seeing women half naked I find rather disrespectful (remember my entry on Lordi’s music video The Riff about how I didn’t like how that chick Dominika was half naked in the video?) When we are fully dressed we are respected, and Mako met those expectations as well. She didn’t have her boobs bouncing around all the time, nor was the camera zooming in on her ass either thank God. The other female protagonist flaws like the different types of Mary Sues I don’t give a shit about because they’re pretty damn common especially if you write fanfiction.
I never thought that this movie would have everything that I’m hoping for out of an action movie but it did. I’m happy to admit that there was finally something I was looking for: A movie that focuses on the main attraction and the female protagonist who meets pretty much all the expectations I have for characters like that. On a scale of one to ten, I’d give this movie one hundred if I could.
-Emily
Monsterlady's Diary 