MOVIE REVIEW | Pacific Rim : Modern Propaganda

Pacific Rim : Modern Propaganda

After watching Pacific Rim tonight, I told a colleague that the ending would have been better if the female protagonist had died in the end. And that it would actually be better if both protagonists died. It would have been more tragic, and thus memorable. Much like the celebrated plot of Romeo and Juliet. I was telling her that it is in human nature to seek for the ultimate expression of love- death!

Video from YouTube. No copyright infringement intended.

Just look at Titanic- the billion dollar movie that has been etched into our minds simply because Jack died in the end. Admit it or not, death is one of the surefire elements to make an A movie.

Epic stories like Beowulf, Hercules, Nibelungenlied, King Arthur for instance, all depicted heroic deeds of men who fought and conquered, but died in the end. And they remained celebrated up to this day.

But my colleagues were like- what is wrong with you, wishing people to die in the movie?! They went as far as saying it would have been better if none had died. But seriously, the whole point of watching a movie is to escape reality. And in reality, of course we wouldn’t want anybody dead. But this is a movie, and anything can happen in this universe.

***

The movie for some reason sent some covert message to its viewers: (1) The kaiju (meaning: /Japanese/ giant monster) all came from the pacific rim – (2) the jaeger/s (meaning: /German/ hunter) are predominantly white American men – (3) the cities destroyed are Manila, HongKong, and Tokyo – (4) Russian and Chinese jaegers were all down – (5) and of course the American jaegers saved the day.

You show this movie to the people of the world and you easily brainwash them that: (1) Evil things come from the Asian region – (2) White American men are noble and worthy of praise – (3) Developed and developing cities in Asia cannot stand on its own feet – (4) Nothing, not even the combined forces of the communist Soviets and Chinese can beat the US – (5) And that the USA will always save the day.

What a crappy propaganda it is. I know that Guillermo Del Toro (director) does not mean any harm, and that he intended this movie to appeal to the younger audience. But the message cannot be more clear than what I have just pointed.

***

Video from YouTube. No copyright infringement intended.

On another note, the movie reminded a lot about my younger sentai movies such as Bioman, Maskman, Ultraman, Voltron, Voltes V. In a sense, it is very anime crafted in a Western’s perspective. Well I just read the interview with Guillermo Del Toro and he confessed that he was indeed influenced by the Japanese anime. But he did not want to have reference to any other character- that’s why he made these mecha robots to differ from Transformers.

Well overall, I liked the movie. It’s a kick ass movie with intense scenes which lasted enough to make you forget time.