Pacific Rim

The 2013 monster science fiction film by Mexican director Guillermo del Toro is largely not out of his style. He is known for his alternating styles in dark fantasy, usually having Spanish Catholic themes, and gothic horror. Both of these have an understated hand in Pacific Rim, the futuristic Travis Beacham story set in a timeline where Earth has come under attack by monsters not from the sky but from a portal that traverses dimensions at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean (hence the title of the film). Del Toro had a specific goal in mind with the creation of this film, he wanted to create a nostalgic film that was meant to honor the mecha and kaiju genres by being entirely original instead of an homage film. 

In the post credits of the film, del Toro dedicates the film to two individuals, Ray Harryhausen and Ishirō Honda. Harryhausen was an American-British filmmakers known for specializing in visual effects as well as creating a new form of stop motion model animation that came to be known as "Dynamation". Honda was a Japanese film director who is known best for his films in the kaiju (monster) and tokusatsu (live action film/television drama that uses special effects), and, in particular, his works in the Godzilla series. Both filmmakers helped to establish and define the monster film genre, with Harryhausen's special effects work on The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and Honda's Godzilla.  

Kaiju is the Japanese film genre that focuses on a monster that battles other monsters or attacks either a major city or a military installation. Examples of these creatures would be Godzilla, Mothra, and King Kong. They can be of any origin, naturally occurring on earth, mythical, bio-mechanically/scientifically created, or of alien origins. 

Even so, del Toro directed his designers not to take the previous films of the genre to be the starting point for the film. It was to be something new, without referencing any of the previous films and masterpieces. Ofttimes, they are cannon fodder, servants or tools of a greater force that is ultimately evil. Some are neutral and there are even those that have been seen to aid the heroes or even be the heroes themselves, but, as is the case with Pacific Rim, these monsters are of an alien origin with a malicious intent, there is no hope for ambiguous neutrality or benign character.

A recurring theme in the works of del Toro is that of insects and nature, this can easily be seen in the film with the appearance of the Kaiju, bioweapons grown by aliens intent on colonizing Earth. While the basic "man in a suit" aesthetic of the creatures echoes the aesthetic of the early Japanese monster films, they are in no other way too similar to any creature that could be found on Earth. Each of the creature has it's own style, while there is the acknowledgement that they are from a type (due to being bioweapons created en masse), from crustacean to reptilian to shark. The creation of each the monster, in the works of the designers, can be found in merging animals with mythical creatures, and, at times, architecture. 

For example, the mecha (referred to as Jaegers in the film) that fight the bioweapons, are based on nonliving elements of the world. The American Jaeger was based on the Art Deco architecture of New York and combined with the movements of John Wayne in his gunslinger films. For the Australian mecha, it was meant to embody the bravery of it's pilots and the Australian outback, with an elegant and masculine design. 

The use of lighting and color in the film was also another stylistic choice different from most of del Toro's work (who favors amber hues in most of films) went for heavily saturated colors in most of the film, especially in the city battle sequences. The film itself is such an artistic realness, almost inconsistent from shot to shot (especially in regards to the ocean battle sequences were the fact that the lighting did not match from shot to shot was a unorthodox directorial choice that paid off) in way that mimics reality in a way that big budget action science fiction films do not, which, amazingly, is what this film is. It is, as del Toro hopes for his work to be, an indie video game that the viewer does not realize they are playing (a single player video game based on the film was released but received negative reviews).

The themes of the film are quite clear from the beginning of the film and are constantly repeated, we either get along together or die. It is the theme of togetherness, of solidarity in the face of death and potential annihilation, it is showing that without trust, there is no survival. There is also the theme of pacifism that is inherent in the film due to the fact that del Toro is a pacifist himself. He avoided any militaristic terms, and even, when structuring the dialogue within the screenplay, structured the organization formed of Jaeger pilots with the use of Western ranks rather than military ranks (ranger and marshal versus captain and general). 

This use of pacifism itself is unique in the type of film that Pacific Rim is, it is a film so entirely based on combat and warfare, but, because of the theme of pacifism, it presents a plot device. Cities and streets are evacuated when warning of the alien bioweapons reaches civilization (after the initial devastation that their first arrival wreaks). There are shots, almost chillingly used, that present devastation and destruction on a wide scale, but, because of the lack of civilians (because the organization had developed a warning system in order to evacuate civilians and protect them), the destruction is remorseless. The heroes, in this sense, have no need to worry about collateral damage when there is none to worry about, they need only worry about protecting the world. 

The lack of worry about collateral damage is something that has begun to circulate within action films, the idea of remorseless destruction being used as trope but for different reasons than del Toro's. He wanted a break from the destruction (and collateral damage) that occurs time and again in films, even that of the genre that he was celebrating. 

Of the two central characters that the story follows, a love story carefully buried and barely seen, the heroes who are tossed together in this end of days, they are both highly damaged beings. A veteran Jaeger pilot who lost his brother in an attack and subsequently ended his career due to the emotional baggage that he bore. He could never pilot another mecha due to the fact that at least two pilots are needed to carry the load, having to "drift" and share their minds entirely with one another (this throws back to the previously mentioned theme of togetherness). 

The veteran, a young man named Becket who was once the young and impetuous brother, is now the soft and nurturing character. While professing that he would never share the neural load of piloting a mecha with another ranger, he still returns to the organization. In order to search for a partner because of the danger that the world is in (due to the governments of the world deciding to shut down the organization's funding because of a belief in a decrease of alien attacks), he sets aside his own trauma for the greater good. 

Mori, the novice pilot and survivor of an alien attack that left her orphaned, is full of anger and rage, revenging herself on the monsters that took away her family is what drives her. It is her anger, and her matching emotional instability to Becket's that endangers their partnership during a test to see if they were properly matched enough to share the neural load of piloting a mecha (and subsequently opening up their minds to one another). As the film progresses, the characters open up to each other and learn to trust, to work together for a greater goal that is beyond their desires and needs.

While a monster science fiction film, and an action film that does not glorify death and rampant massacre, Pacific Rim is a film that is a love story that does not focus on romantic love, but platonic love. It focuses on trust and what one can achieve with that trust. It is of two people who are so intrinsically broken that they become one, fitting together like jagged shards because of their brokenness, because they understand and trust one another. 

Works Cited

Collin, Robbie. "Pacific Rim, Review." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 08 July 2013. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.

French, Philip. "Pacific Rim – Review." The Observer. Guardian News and Media, 13 July 2013. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.

McCarthy, Todd. "Pacific Rim: Film Review." The Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Jan. 2013. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.

Scott, A. O. "Monsters, Machines and Mind Melding in a Race for the World." The New York Times. The New York Times, 2013. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.

Seitz, Matt Zoller. "Pacific Rim Movie Review & Film Summary (2013) | Roger Ebert." All Content. Roger Ebert, 12 July 2013. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.

Watercutter, Angela. "Pacific Rim Is Literally the Most Awesome Movie of the Summer." Wired. Conde Nast, 10 July 2013. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.

A Leaf on the Wind

Joss Whedon’s Serenity is often called a space western, but, it is not a film that can be relegated to one shelf. It is science fiction and drama, a thriller and a Western that draws elements from Chinese epics. This idea follows through in the use of color within the film, drawing overlapping elements from different cultures to create a blend of cultures that would exist in a world beyond an overpopulated and contaminated Earth.

It is not a pure science fiction film, nothing like the Star Trek that modern audiences know, closer to Blade Runner with it's almost grungy feel. It is nothing like the clean metal of Star Trek or the stylized richness of Star Wars. It is dirty, it is emotion in its most natural form, it is human. The film is the outside of that which is constantly presented by science fiction films, the opposite of all the cold gleaming metal surfaces and technological advances. Serenity, both the film and the namesake, a near derelict spaceship that is barely held together, are the opposite of that vision. It is closer to the gritty and dark visual style of Ridley Scott’s neo noir film Blade Runner. 

Within the long spanning history of the films and television shows of Star Trek, the colors have always been quite clear. Everything to do with the color palette, for the protagonists of the films/shows, are on the lighter side of the color spectrum. The Federation, the advanced government within the home world of Star Trek, is shown having beautiful, crisp and cold environments of gleaming metal. It is just as the presentation of the Alliance in Serenity, a totalitarian and highly advanced government. That is the opposite with Serenity, those with the lighter color palette, the pale blues and grays, are the antagonists and villains of the situation, having created the monsters known as Reaver through their own meddlesome actions. 

The darkness apparent in Blade Runner, the grittiness throughout the dystopian world, that is what is reflected within Serenity. It is the darker side of humanity in the future, in a future that is not only gleaming and wonderful, but cold and cruel. It shows that humanity is not simply that which glitters the brightest, but also that which is dull and drab. 

Within the scenes of the school, when River is dreaming or having a vision, the prominent colors are blues, whites, and, oranges. There is green in the background, that of the foliage and flora, but it is almost too real, the green does not feel real. Everything is oversaturated, almost technicolor and hazy in appearance. The color white, within the scene, is almost blinding and surrounded by a halo, mimicking it’s Western definition of purity and innocence while, at the same time, contrasting it’s Eastern definition of being the color of mourning and death. A fitting comparison when, towards the end of the first school scene, the teacher stabs River in the forehead with a blade, and, in the second scene, when all the students lay down and turn into mummified corpses before River’s eyes.

Sickly blues, greens, and, grays dominate the Alliance lab scene where River is being experimented on. There is an unhealthy sheen to the skin of the characters within this scene, almost as if they were monsters or even corpses. The Alliance itself, whenever present, is represented by those hues along with white. The records room, in which the Operative is reviewing River’s escape from the Alliance lab, is primarily neutral in color. The only contrast within the room’s color palette are the red lights on the shelves, the red stripe on the floor, and, the blood of those that the Operative slaughtered. 

For Serenity, the spaceship that is called home by the majority of the characters of the film, is filled with warmer colors, denoting that it is a safe place. Even though the inside of the ship is gray or light blue metal and there are areas that are coolly lit, the general feel is that of safety due to the warm hues decorating the interior. The most prominent of those colors being yellows, reds, and, browns. 

As the albatross that the Alliance seeks to silence, River is clad in regal colors. Dark blues, purples and reds are the colors that she is always seen in. She is both a psychic and an engineered weapon. The red symbolizes the death she is able to bring down upon others in an instant, the purple being the symbol of her metaphysical abilities, and, the blue referencing the nobility of her birth.

The abandoned planet known as Miranda is, as is the norm within this film for dangerous locations or moments of dramatic importance, depicted in lighter colors. All the colors, of everything found on that abandoned planet, are cold and icy. Steel grays, icy blues, and, whites cover the screen within the scenes on Miranda. There is no variety of color but for the corpses of the former inhabitants of Miranda. There is nothing that lends to the belief of life existing on the planet.  

Serenity does not follow the story of what would be considered the counterpart of Star Trek’s Federation, the Alliance in this case, nor does it follow the noble cause of the rebel forces in Star Wars. Rather, it’s story follows the path of a ragtag group of honest thieves who live aboard a derelict spaceship bearing the name of Serenity. The symbolic albatross of the film is a young girl, River Tam, daughter of a high ranking family within the Alliance, psychic, and, lab rat of the the Alliance. Before her brother, Simon, managed to rescue her from the Alliance laboratories, she unearthed a truth from within the minds of the leaders of the Alliance that burned her mind. It is for that secret that she is hunted by the Alliance, to prevent the truth of the tragedy of Miranda from reaching the mass public. It is for that reason she and her brother managed to hide themselves within a small band of thieves, who, are led by a former rebel captain.

River herself is no longer just a brilliantly gifted child. By the hands of the Alliance, she has become a weapon. Mentally unstable, her movements and appearance throughout the film reflect this. At times, she appears unearthly, her skin too pale or even glowing within certain scenes. The camera follows her motions, and, when she is especially disturbed, it is reflected in the manner of editing. There are moments when she is reading the minds of others and the camera portrays this through the use of an extreme Dutch angle, intent on causing disorientation and discomfort, mimicking what River herself would feel. When she has visions of the Reavers, those unlucky humans who have fallen into darkness and madness by the hands of the Alliance, there are close ups and rapid camera movement that mimics their chaotic movements and thought patterns. 

The movements of the Reavers, especially when fighting, are chaotic and out of control. Fitting with their background, being the few survivors of Miranda who had gone mad due to the secret experimentation of an entire planet by the Alliance in the attempt of creating a docile and malleable populace. The Alliance soldiers, in contrast, when moving, are stiff and methodical. They are organized, playing to the knowledge of the Alliance being cool and calculating when it comes to any and every thing. On the other hand, River, she plays to her name. She is graceful in both battle and in her daily movements, almost as if she were dancing or even simply a leaf on the wind with the delicacy of her appearance and movements. 

It is a dance, the entirety of the plot and aesthetics of the film. River and her protectors shying away from the ever reaching hand of the Alliance as they move further and further to the edge of humanity. It is simple and complex, a moment in time that is repeated throughout each scene of the film. River is, after all, an albatross aboard a rudderless ship that follows the wind. 

That, perhaps, is how Serenity can be summed up: a leaf on the wind. 

Works Cited

Dargis, Mahnola. "Scruffy Space Cowboys Fighting Their Failings." NY Times. The New York Times, 30 Sept. 2005. Web. 4 Dec. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/30/movies/scruffy-space-cowboys-fighting-their-failings.html?_r=0>.

Kempley, Rita. "Blade Runner." Washington Post. Washington Post, 11 Sept. 1992. Web. 2 Dec. 2015. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/bladerunnerrkempley_a0a2e1.htm>.

Orr, Christopher. "The Movie Review: 'Serenity'" The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 27 Dec. 2005. Web. 2 Dec. 2015. <http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2005/12/the-movie-review-serenity/69420/>.

Blade Runner. Dir. Ridley Scott. Warner Bros., 1982. Film.

Firefly. Dir. Joss Whedon. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2003. Film.

Serenity. Dir. Joss Whedon. Universal Pictures, 2005. Film.

Wood, Jennifer M. "Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk on Firefly Fandom and Their Con Man Indiegogo Campaign." Esquire. Esquire, 21 Mar. 2015. Web. 1 Dec. 2015. <http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/interviews/a33827/nathan-fillion-alan-tudyk-firefly-reboot-tournament/>.