We Need to Talk About Pacific Rim
I would like to point out that the first thing that necessitated I pull the "lean over and whisper" move with my girlfriend (which I was trying to use minimally because the theatre was absolutely packed, on a Sunday night, after this movie has already been out for a week) was that I was convinced that the main protagonist Raleigh Becket, portrayed by Charlie Hunnam, was using his bedroom voice for the first quarter of the movie. Which, I suppose is in keeping with the storytelling theme they had going with the opening voice over.
However, in real life, Charlie Hunnam does not have a bedroom voice. In example:
I don't even know what to call that. He's a British actor (who apparently moved to the Lake District [oh, my love...] at a young age.) But I'm getting what I think is Brooklyn, but then he's dropping his Rs like a Bostonian, and then something like Pennsylvania Dutch (which, to me, is part Irish part American South)? Also, he's very beardy and I don't know why (Re: probably a Sons of Anarchy thing,) he has such a nice face.
Check the smolder, guys
And now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
One thing my silly nay-saying RL friend asked was "why they needed a psych connection to a machine that they had to manually control as well."
The thing is, I really can't answer that, because I just don't care. I was having way too much fun to worry about "metaphysics" (which is, incidentally, my least favorite word.)
Plus I have so many questions that I actually do care about, such as:
What are the circumstances that caused Idris Elba's character (in the car on the way home, my girlfriend IMDBed him, and making the connection that he's Heimdall in Thor blew my mind. A little slow on the uptake, sorry,) but what are the circumstances which forced Marshall Stacker Pentecost to pilot a Jaeger by himself?
And while I'm here, what a name. I can't speak too far to the etymology of "Staker" other than how emphatic it sounds, it's evocative of a game of cards, staking the deck, a gambit. And "Pentecost," the Christian celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit, marked by tongues of flame, when the Apostles spoke to peoples of different nations in their own tongues. Understanding.
I also recognized Diego Klattenhoff, I realized, from Supernatural, he played Duane Tanner in the episode Croatoan. He plays Yancy Beckett. I thought the name Yancy was odd. According to BabyNames.com the name was "Created by F. Scott Fitzgerald for his short story "The Popular Girl" published in 1922. Possibly a play on the word "Yankee," which was a colloquial term for "Northerner" in the U.S. during the Civil War." Touche, Mr. Del Toro.
So, he's practically a Red Shirt, my girlfriend could have told you that. When we play "Movie Husbands," she's stopped claiming older brothers, because they always die (i.e. Boromir). The 'favored second son' is a very Biblical theme as well (i.e. Isaac).
And of course there was Burn Gorman of Torchwood, he should be old hat at this alien thing by now!
Other pertinent questions:
Why did the powers that be think that building a wall would help?
i.e. Giant Axe-Headed Creature bursts through wall.
"Fuck."
*Pterodactyl screech* Winged Kaiju flies through gap in wall.
"Double fuck."
Y'all remember Grond, right?
If the Kaiju are created, why was one of them pregnant?
(Re: Basically so Dr. Newton Geiszler could mind-meld with the fetus, which was totally gross.)
How do the triplets pilot their Jaeger? Is there a mythical third hemisphere of the brain? Where was the third guy in the cockpit?
Why not recruit Octomom's kids and just have a giant mechanical Octopus patrolling the oceans?
What is the deal between these two?
On a more serious note, we wondered why the Marshall declared something to the effect that he didn't have memories or emotions, as he was about to mind-meld with Captain Australia (who's goodbye with his adorable English Bulldog was utterly beautiful and heartbreaking.) At first I thought he had suffered brain damage. My girlfriend suggested that because the Marshall had taken part in so many drops, he had become very adept at emptying himself, as in meditation, to become a sort of vessel for the drift. Which is in keeping with the theme that he is a "fixed point," and "the last man standing," because he's not really there. He doesn't regard himself. He is there to facilitate others doing their job.
And naturally when he self-destructs, he takes Captain Australia with him. A great point of contention for my girlfriend.
Mako rolling up to the helicopter with a second umbrella: flawless. Forehead touching: I'm dying. Though I could have done with one thousand more hours of Raleigh and Mako fighting. I love that a big deal is not made of the fact that she's a woman. The Marshall is concerned about her drifting because she's suffered a trauma (like Raleigh) and not because "OMG, you've got lady parts; you're way too unstable to do the Vulcan mind-meld."
Finally, to all the people who were saying "It was fun; it was just another movie about robots and monsters." I just want to say that there's so much more there if you look. I was pleased to see the Heterosexual Female Gaze (hello, old friend.) And in this movie, the Australians were the opposite of "WTF Mate?"
However, in real life, Charlie Hunnam does not have a bedroom voice. In example:
Click to viewI don't even know what to call that. He's a British actor (who apparently moved to the Lake District [oh, my love...] at a young age.) But I'm getting what I think is Brooklyn, but then he's dropping his Rs like a Bostonian, and then something like Pennsylvania Dutch (which, to me, is part Irish part American South)? Also, he's very beardy and I don't know why (Re: probably a Sons of Anarchy thing,) he has such a nice face.
Check the smolder, guys
And now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
One thing my silly nay-saying RL friend asked was "why they needed a psych connection to a machine that they had to manually control as well."
The thing is, I really can't answer that, because I just don't care. I was having way too much fun to worry about "metaphysics" (which is, incidentally, my least favorite word.)
Plus I have so many questions that I actually do care about, such as:
What are the circumstances that caused Idris Elba's character (in the car on the way home, my girlfriend IMDBed him, and making the connection that he's Heimdall in Thor blew my mind. A little slow on the uptake, sorry,) but what are the circumstances which forced Marshall Stacker Pentecost to pilot a Jaeger by himself?
And while I'm here, what a name. I can't speak too far to the etymology of "Staker" other than how emphatic it sounds, it's evocative of a game of cards, staking the deck, a gambit. And "Pentecost," the Christian celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit, marked by tongues of flame, when the Apostles spoke to peoples of different nations in their own tongues. Understanding.
I also recognized Diego Klattenhoff, I realized, from Supernatural, he played Duane Tanner in the episode Croatoan. He plays Yancy Beckett. I thought the name Yancy was odd. According to BabyNames.com the name was "Created by F. Scott Fitzgerald for his short story "The Popular Girl" published in 1922. Possibly a play on the word "Yankee," which was a colloquial term for "Northerner" in the U.S. during the Civil War." Touche, Mr. Del Toro.
So, he's practically a Red Shirt, my girlfriend could have told you that. When we play "Movie Husbands," she's stopped claiming older brothers, because they always die (i.e. Boromir). The 'favored second son' is a very Biblical theme as well (i.e. Isaac).
And of course there was Burn Gorman of Torchwood, he should be old hat at this alien thing by now!
Other pertinent questions:
Why did the powers that be think that building a wall would help?
i.e. Giant Axe-Headed Creature bursts through wall.
"Fuck."
*Pterodactyl screech* Winged Kaiju flies through gap in wall.
"Double fuck."
Y'all remember Grond, right?
If the Kaiju are created, why was one of them pregnant?
(Re: Basically so Dr. Newton Geiszler could mind-meld with the fetus, which was totally gross.)
How do the triplets pilot their Jaeger? Is there a mythical third hemisphere of the brain? Where was the third guy in the cockpit?
Why not recruit Octomom's kids and just have a giant mechanical Octopus patrolling the oceans?
What is the deal between these two?
On a more serious note, we wondered why the Marshall declared something to the effect that he didn't have memories or emotions, as he was about to mind-meld with Captain Australia (who's goodbye with his adorable English Bulldog was utterly beautiful and heartbreaking.) At first I thought he had suffered brain damage. My girlfriend suggested that because the Marshall had taken part in so many drops, he had become very adept at emptying himself, as in meditation, to become a sort of vessel for the drift. Which is in keeping with the theme that he is a "fixed point," and "the last man standing," because he's not really there. He doesn't regard himself. He is there to facilitate others doing their job.
And naturally when he self-destructs, he takes Captain Australia with him. A great point of contention for my girlfriend.
Mako rolling up to the helicopter with a second umbrella: flawless. Forehead touching: I'm dying. Though I could have done with one thousand more hours of Raleigh and Mako fighting. I love that a big deal is not made of the fact that she's a woman. The Marshall is concerned about her drifting because she's suffered a trauma (like Raleigh) and not because "OMG, you've got lady parts; you're way too unstable to do the Vulcan mind-meld."
Finally, to all the people who were saying "It was fun; it was just another movie about robots and monsters." I just want to say that there's so much more there if you look. I was pleased to see the Heterosexual Female Gaze (hello, old friend.) And in this movie, the Australians were the opposite of "WTF Mate?"