On B Movies and Pacific Rim

Susan Hayward in her Cinema Studies The Key Concepts describes B movies as “cheap, quickly made movies…screened as a second feature alongside a major feature film (called A movies)”. B movies in the 1950s were often of the sci-fi genre, openly exploitative and also less constrained by the need to offer serious content. Many of the recent summer blockbustes could be described as B movies, although they attempt to hide this behind pseudo-intellectualism, such as Christian mythology in Man of Steel. Pacific Rim attempts no such tricks; it lays its B movies credentials on the table.

There is nothing more to the narrative of Pacific Rim that you cannot learn from the trailer, or even a poster. Yet, what the full feature does reveal are the weaknesses in script and acting, both of which are at times painful to experience. Guillermo del Toro may be attempting to create an authentic B movie of the 50s, but it doesn’t translate. The special effects may be impressive, but the story is weak. It is hard to believe that Pacific Rim comes from the man who brought us Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), one of the most impressive pieces of cinema of the last ten years.