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Movie reviews: Pacific Rim and Thor: The Dark World
I had meant to post this awhile back when I first saw the movies, but better late than never! I went to see Thor: The Dark World back in November, and coincidentally, I also watched the dvd of Pacific Rim earlier the same day. I thought they were awesome, and it was an interesting coincidence that family ties (both blood relations and found families) played a large role in both movies.
There are mild spoilers below the cut for both movies, and a major spoiler for The Dark World, but I left plenty of spoiler space in case one wants to skip that part.
Pacific Rim looked like a movie with a lot of potential to be really bad, but a couple of my favorite webcomic authors, whose opinions I trust, raved about it. It was highly recommended on nemu*nemu (scroll down past the comic to read the blog post), and Jamie Noguchi of Yellow Peril raved about it (again, the blog post is below the comic) and even went on YouTube to rave about how awesome heroine Mako Mori (played by Rinko Kikuchi) is. (I agree that she's pretty damn awesome, btw!) Oh, and if you have some spare time, you should check out both webcomics--they're two of my favorites, and a lot of fun to read.
Anyway, Pacific Rim was not bad at all--in fact, as the nemu*nemu blog states, it's a great tribute to kaiju (monsters like Godzilla, Mothra, etc.) and mecha (giant robot) movies! (Apparently, director Guillermo del Toro is a fan of both.) Premise of the story is that a mysterious rift to another world/dimension opened up under the sea (near the Pacific Rim, hence the title), setting loose giant monsters (dubbed, as one might expect, "Kaiju") that wreak havoc all over the world. In order to combat them, giant robots called Jaegar are created to fight them. The Jaegars are controlled by two pilots who share a mental link. At first, the Jaegars are able to defeat the Kaiju with relative ease, but over the years, the Kaiju grow stronger until most of the Jaegars are destroyed and the world is on the brink of destruction.
Pilot Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) suffers severe trauma when his brother is killed by a Kaiju while they're mentally linked, and swears never to pilot a Jaegar again. However, Stacker Pentecost (the amazing Idris Elba) is commanding a last-ditch effort to destroy the Rift, and persuades a reluctant Raleigh to take on a new partner--who eventually turns out to be Mako Mori, a young Japanese woman who has suffered some past trauma of her own (she lost her family to the Kaiju as a little girl, and was taken in and raised by Pentecost like a daughter). Among the other Jaegar pilots are an Australian father and son team named Herc and Chuck Hansen--son Chuck is kind of a jerk, but father Herc is very funny and personable, and their pet bulldog is adorable. There's also a pair of comically feuding scientists who are hilarious (one is played by Torchwood's Burn Gorman). And Ron Perlman plays the shady Hannibal Chau, a black marker dealer in Kaiju, er, "parts"--it's a relatively small role, but he plays it with colorful flair, and is a lot of fun to watch.
During the drive to see The Dark World, I was raving to my friends about how great Pacific Rim was, and Friend A pointed out that it's not very original and is a bit cliched. Certainly it makes use of a lot of familiar tropes including the hot-headed hero with a troubled past, and a presumably suicidal mission where one person must sacrifice himself to save the world (shades of Indepence Day, said my friend). But to be fair, I don't think it was meant to be original or ground-breaking, but rather, a loving homage to the old kaiju and mecha movies/tv shows. I grew up watching both, so I can share in that nostalgic joy.
Anyway, original or not, the action scenes were exciting to watch, but what I loved most of all was the bonds between the characters: the father/child bond between Herc and Chuck, and Pentecost and Mako; and also Raleigh's grief over his brother and his new bond with partner Mako. In almost any other movie, there would be a big romantic subplot between Raleigh and Mako, but I like that in this movie, they are true professionals and focus their attention on becoming a good Jaegar team. Which isn't to say that there isn't romantic potential there, but they don't waste time flirting when they have to save the world.
Charlie Hunnam was a likeable hero, but the characters I loved most were Mako and Pentecost. As Jamie said, Mako is awesome, and I love the combination of badass-ness and vulnerability that she has. (Her past trauma plays into the vulnerability, but she fights hard to overcome it.) And whoa, Idris Elba has so much charisma and such a commanding presence that he pretty much steals all the scenes that he's in! Even in the small role he had as Heimdall in the Thor movies, he had a lot of presence, but in this larger (though still supporting) role he really gets to shine. I'm going to have to look up the movies/tv shows that he has a lead role in. Um...getting back to Pacific Rim, I really love the bond between Pentecost and Mako. As commander and subordinate, they behave in a professional manner, but you can still sense that they care about each other deeply, and at times, Pentecost shows a fatherly tenderness towards Mako. And as Jamie said in his video, even when Mako disagrees with Pentecost, there's still a deep sense of love and respect towards him.
There's a more casual and open affection between Herc and Chuck, and I also liked the slightly different (though no less strong) father/son bond between them.
While Friend A was less than wowed by the movie, he did admit that he liked the characters and thought they were interesting.
Due to some last minute reshoots after the film was completed, there were rumors among fandom that there were problems with Thor: The Dark World, and that it would turn out to be substandard compared to the first Thor film. But again, I was pleasantly surprised, and while the film was not without a few flaws, overall it was a very entertaining and enjoyable movie.
The film takes place after the events of the first Thor movie and The Avengers, with Thor and his Asgardian comrades fighting a war with the dark elves, led by Malekith. Meanwhile, back on Earth, four years have passed since Jane and Thor parted at the end of the first film, and Jane is attempting to move on with her life, going out on a blind date with a very nice guy--but it's clear that she's still not over Thor.
They're reunited in this movie, but there's little time to celebrate, since Jane has been infected by an incredibly powerful and destructive force called the Aether, one that Malekith wants to possess. Thor brings her to Asgard, hoping to find some way to remove the Aether from her, but while his mother Frigga welcomes her warmly, Odin is less than welcoming.
The change in Odin from the first film is quite interesting. Friend A complained that in the first movie, Odin seemed "too soft" (compared to Marvel Comics Odin or the Odin of Norse mythology). Friend B and I, not being familiar with the comics, didn't feel the same way. To us, he seemed like a man weary of war after centuries of battle, and his desire to preserve the fragile peace with the Jotuns seemed understandable. He also came across as a father who loved his sons deeply, even if one might argue that some of his decisions regarding them were flawed. (Telling a suicidal Loki that no, he hasn't been a good son to you, was probably not a good idea even if it was true--at least, not if your goal was to save his life. Although as we all know, Loki managed to survive his fall from the Bifrost.)
But in The Dark World, Odin is not at all soft or weak or sentimental--he is strong and proud, unyielding and merciless. When the captured Loki is brought before him, there's no sign of fatherly love or regret, only the stern and angry King of Asgard. The only mercy he shows is to sentence Loki to life imprisonment instead of death, and that, he says, only due to Frigga's pleading.
Odin is also pretty harsh even with his favored son, Thor. Aside from Jane bringing the Aether with her (her coming seems to fulfill an ominous prophecy of doom), Odin makes it clear that he doesn't approve of his son taking a human lover. Although he told Loki earlier that the Asgardians are not gods, he seems to regard humanity as being far beneath them, which thus makes Jane unworthy of Thor. His vehemence seemed a bit puzzling to me--the Asgardians apparently live for thousands of years, so Odin need only wait a few decades and the problem will take care of itself, since most humans don't live longer than a century, if that.
Frigga reacts to Loki more as we humans might expect of the parent of a criminal: she makes it clear that she still loves him in spite of what he's done, but at the same time, doesn't excuse his crimes, and reminds him that he brought this fate upon himself. There's a tenderness in the scenes between her and Loki, and although he stubbornly insists on disavowing his Asgardian heritage, it's clear that he loves his mother and doesn't resent her the way that he does Odin.
I loved Frigga so much! Her role in the first movie was much smaller, and she has more of a chance to shine here. She's strong and badass, yet also compassionate--she's gentler than Odin, but no less firm in her resolve.
SPOILERY MATERIAL BELOW...
So I was quite upset when Frigga was killed protecting Jane from Malekith. But at the same time, I could kind of see how it was necessary plot-wise, since avenging Frigga was one of the few things that would make Thor desperate enough to release Loki from his prison--and believe that Loki (probably) won't stab him in the back, at least not until their mother is avenged. Thor is naturally distrustful of his brother at first, but as their quest continues, we see them working and fighting together and even beginning to enjoy it, giving us a glimpse of what the brothers must have been like in happier days, before Loki's betrayal.
As with Pacific Rim, what I loved most about the film were those family moments: the bonds between the brothers, and between Frigga and her sons, and the more complicated relationship between Odin and Thor and Loki.
My only complaint would be that Malekith seemed like a two-dimensional villain to me, and his character could have used some fleshing out. (Apparently there's a lot more backstory about him and Kurse in the comics.) But it didn't bother me too much because I was mainly watching the movie for Thor and Loki.
Some other great moments in the movie include Loki's hilarious impersonations of Sif and Captain America. Chris Evans really did an outstanding job of playing Loki mockingly imitating Captain America, and the theater was roaring with laughter during that scene!
Stellan Skarsgard also added some humor as Selvig, who is found running around nude at Stonehenge, rambling on about saving the world--as Skarsgard said in an interview, "Having a god in your head for a while creates some psychological problems." It was funny, and yet also a little sad and poignant, as we see that he's still traumatized by Loki's mind-control in Avengers. I felt sorry for Selvig, but I liked that the movie showed that there were still consequences left over from the events in Avengers.
Overall, both movies were very entertaining and emotionally satisfying to watch, at least for me. I doubt that either of them will win any Academy Awards, but they're great action films (good popcorn flicks, if you will) with characters that you really care about--and that, I suspect, have inspired a ton of new fanfic.
There are mild spoilers below the cut for both movies, and a major spoiler for The Dark World, but I left plenty of spoiler space in case one wants to skip that part.
Pacific Rim looked like a movie with a lot of potential to be really bad, but a couple of my favorite webcomic authors, whose opinions I trust, raved about it. It was highly recommended on nemu*nemu (scroll down past the comic to read the blog post), and Jamie Noguchi of Yellow Peril raved about it (again, the blog post is below the comic) and even went on YouTube to rave about how awesome heroine Mako Mori (played by Rinko Kikuchi) is. (I agree that she's pretty damn awesome, btw!) Oh, and if you have some spare time, you should check out both webcomics--they're two of my favorites, and a lot of fun to read.
Anyway, Pacific Rim was not bad at all--in fact, as the nemu*nemu blog states, it's a great tribute to kaiju (monsters like Godzilla, Mothra, etc.) and mecha (giant robot) movies! (Apparently, director Guillermo del Toro is a fan of both.) Premise of the story is that a mysterious rift to another world/dimension opened up under the sea (near the Pacific Rim, hence the title), setting loose giant monsters (dubbed, as one might expect, "Kaiju") that wreak havoc all over the world. In order to combat them, giant robots called Jaegar are created to fight them. The Jaegars are controlled by two pilots who share a mental link. At first, the Jaegars are able to defeat the Kaiju with relative ease, but over the years, the Kaiju grow stronger until most of the Jaegars are destroyed and the world is on the brink of destruction.
Pilot Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) suffers severe trauma when his brother is killed by a Kaiju while they're mentally linked, and swears never to pilot a Jaegar again. However, Stacker Pentecost (the amazing Idris Elba) is commanding a last-ditch effort to destroy the Rift, and persuades a reluctant Raleigh to take on a new partner--who eventually turns out to be Mako Mori, a young Japanese woman who has suffered some past trauma of her own (she lost her family to the Kaiju as a little girl, and was taken in and raised by Pentecost like a daughter). Among the other Jaegar pilots are an Australian father and son team named Herc and Chuck Hansen--son Chuck is kind of a jerk, but father Herc is very funny and personable, and their pet bulldog is adorable. There's also a pair of comically feuding scientists who are hilarious (one is played by Torchwood's Burn Gorman). And Ron Perlman plays the shady Hannibal Chau, a black marker dealer in Kaiju, er, "parts"--it's a relatively small role, but he plays it with colorful flair, and is a lot of fun to watch.
During the drive to see The Dark World, I was raving to my friends about how great Pacific Rim was, and Friend A pointed out that it's not very original and is a bit cliched. Certainly it makes use of a lot of familiar tropes including the hot-headed hero with a troubled past, and a presumably suicidal mission where one person must sacrifice himself to save the world (shades of Indepence Day, said my friend). But to be fair, I don't think it was meant to be original or ground-breaking, but rather, a loving homage to the old kaiju and mecha movies/tv shows. I grew up watching both, so I can share in that nostalgic joy.
Anyway, original or not, the action scenes were exciting to watch, but what I loved most of all was the bonds between the characters: the father/child bond between Herc and Chuck, and Pentecost and Mako; and also Raleigh's grief over his brother and his new bond with partner Mako. In almost any other movie, there would be a big romantic subplot between Raleigh and Mako, but I like that in this movie, they are true professionals and focus their attention on becoming a good Jaegar team. Which isn't to say that there isn't romantic potential there, but they don't waste time flirting when they have to save the world.
Charlie Hunnam was a likeable hero, but the characters I loved most were Mako and Pentecost. As Jamie said, Mako is awesome, and I love the combination of badass-ness and vulnerability that she has. (Her past trauma plays into the vulnerability, but she fights hard to overcome it.) And whoa, Idris Elba has so much charisma and such a commanding presence that he pretty much steals all the scenes that he's in! Even in the small role he had as Heimdall in the Thor movies, he had a lot of presence, but in this larger (though still supporting) role he really gets to shine. I'm going to have to look up the movies/tv shows that he has a lead role in. Um...getting back to Pacific Rim, I really love the bond between Pentecost and Mako. As commander and subordinate, they behave in a professional manner, but you can still sense that they care about each other deeply, and at times, Pentecost shows a fatherly tenderness towards Mako. And as Jamie said in his video, even when Mako disagrees with Pentecost, there's still a deep sense of love and respect towards him.
There's a more casual and open affection between Herc and Chuck, and I also liked the slightly different (though no less strong) father/son bond between them.
While Friend A was less than wowed by the movie, he did admit that he liked the characters and thought they were interesting.
***
Due to some last minute reshoots after the film was completed, there were rumors among fandom that there were problems with Thor: The Dark World, and that it would turn out to be substandard compared to the first Thor film. But again, I was pleasantly surprised, and while the film was not without a few flaws, overall it was a very entertaining and enjoyable movie.
The film takes place after the events of the first Thor movie and The Avengers, with Thor and his Asgardian comrades fighting a war with the dark elves, led by Malekith. Meanwhile, back on Earth, four years have passed since Jane and Thor parted at the end of the first film, and Jane is attempting to move on with her life, going out on a blind date with a very nice guy--but it's clear that she's still not over Thor.
They're reunited in this movie, but there's little time to celebrate, since Jane has been infected by an incredibly powerful and destructive force called the Aether, one that Malekith wants to possess. Thor brings her to Asgard, hoping to find some way to remove the Aether from her, but while his mother Frigga welcomes her warmly, Odin is less than welcoming.
The change in Odin from the first film is quite interesting. Friend A complained that in the first movie, Odin seemed "too soft" (compared to Marvel Comics Odin or the Odin of Norse mythology). Friend B and I, not being familiar with the comics, didn't feel the same way. To us, he seemed like a man weary of war after centuries of battle, and his desire to preserve the fragile peace with the Jotuns seemed understandable. He also came across as a father who loved his sons deeply, even if one might argue that some of his decisions regarding them were flawed. (Telling a suicidal Loki that no, he hasn't been a good son to you, was probably not a good idea even if it was true--at least, not if your goal was to save his life. Although as we all know, Loki managed to survive his fall from the Bifrost.)
But in The Dark World, Odin is not at all soft or weak or sentimental--he is strong and proud, unyielding and merciless. When the captured Loki is brought before him, there's no sign of fatherly love or regret, only the stern and angry King of Asgard. The only mercy he shows is to sentence Loki to life imprisonment instead of death, and that, he says, only due to Frigga's pleading.
Odin is also pretty harsh even with his favored son, Thor. Aside from Jane bringing the Aether with her (her coming seems to fulfill an ominous prophecy of doom), Odin makes it clear that he doesn't approve of his son taking a human lover. Although he told Loki earlier that the Asgardians are not gods, he seems to regard humanity as being far beneath them, which thus makes Jane unworthy of Thor. His vehemence seemed a bit puzzling to me--the Asgardians apparently live for thousands of years, so Odin need only wait a few decades and the problem will take care of itself, since most humans don't live longer than a century, if that.
Frigga reacts to Loki more as we humans might expect of the parent of a criminal: she makes it clear that she still loves him in spite of what he's done, but at the same time, doesn't excuse his crimes, and reminds him that he brought this fate upon himself. There's a tenderness in the scenes between her and Loki, and although he stubbornly insists on disavowing his Asgardian heritage, it's clear that he loves his mother and doesn't resent her the way that he does Odin.
I loved Frigga so much! Her role in the first movie was much smaller, and she has more of a chance to shine here. She's strong and badass, yet also compassionate--she's gentler than Odin, but no less firm in her resolve.
SPOILERY MATERIAL BELOW...
So I was quite upset when Frigga was killed protecting Jane from Malekith. But at the same time, I could kind of see how it was necessary plot-wise, since avenging Frigga was one of the few things that would make Thor desperate enough to release Loki from his prison--and believe that Loki (probably) won't stab him in the back, at least not until their mother is avenged. Thor is naturally distrustful of his brother at first, but as their quest continues, we see them working and fighting together and even beginning to enjoy it, giving us a glimpse of what the brothers must have been like in happier days, before Loki's betrayal.
As with Pacific Rim, what I loved most about the film were those family moments: the bonds between the brothers, and between Frigga and her sons, and the more complicated relationship between Odin and Thor and Loki.
My only complaint would be that Malekith seemed like a two-dimensional villain to me, and his character could have used some fleshing out. (Apparently there's a lot more backstory about him and Kurse in the comics.) But it didn't bother me too much because I was mainly watching the movie for Thor and Loki.
Some other great moments in the movie include Loki's hilarious impersonations of Sif and Captain America. Chris Evans really did an outstanding job of playing Loki mockingly imitating Captain America, and the theater was roaring with laughter during that scene!
Stellan Skarsgard also added some humor as Selvig, who is found running around nude at Stonehenge, rambling on about saving the world--as Skarsgard said in an interview, "Having a god in your head for a while creates some psychological problems." It was funny, and yet also a little sad and poignant, as we see that he's still traumatized by Loki's mind-control in Avengers. I felt sorry for Selvig, but I liked that the movie showed that there were still consequences left over from the events in Avengers.
Overall, both movies were very entertaining and emotionally satisfying to watch, at least for me. I doubt that either of them will win any Academy Awards, but they're great action films (good popcorn flicks, if you will) with characters that you really care about--and that, I suspect, have inspired a ton of new fanfic.
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Hawaii 5-0 is also pretty good for female fan service since Steve finds reasons to take his shirt off quite a bit in that show! I haven't been keeping track lately, but in the first season he seemed to go shirtless at least once in each episode.