(Crossposted
from Tumblr, because it was so goddamn long.)
So, it’s come to my attention that there are a bunch of people who think Mako Mori is a “weak" female character, because
of course. In fact a good friend of mine (who is a woman
and
professional film reviewer) thought Mako was too “emotional" , which a)
made me go "!!????!!" in blank incomprehension, and b) brought it to my
attention that people who
aren’t random internet misogynists do indeed have this opinion. Still, it’s a wrong opinion, and here’s why:
First of all, let’s talk about cliche. Pacific Rim is positively
roiling in cliches. On purpose.
This isn’t a blockbuster movie where some faceless production company
focus-grouped a selection of generic Hollywood movie cliches and
combined them to create the new Avatar or Transformers. No. This is a
movie where Guillermo del Toro, an acclaimed filmmaker and all-round
nerd, sat down and thought, “what cliches are
awesome?"
Which is how we ended up with a movie about people in giant mecha
suits fighting giant Kaiju monsters in an epic battle to save Planet
Earth from a Lovecraftian apocalypse.

Guillermo del Toro took a bunch of classic action/adventure movie
tropes and gleefully combined them in a cheesy yet incredibly effective
way. Also, he conveniently ignored all the
shitty
action/adventure tropes that regularly make Hollywood blockbusters into a
pile of offensive trash. For example, shitty tropes like America Saving
The World. Or female characters being relegated to the role of
love-interest, helpless damsel, or ass-kicking sex fantasy.