At last after waiting an entire year it is finally here! Today we are looking at Pacific Rim! Holy shit I cannot tell you how long I have been waiting for this movie well actually I kind of did but that is beside the point because now its here and by Thor's iron chin its is glorious!
Pacific Rim is directed by Guillermo del Toro who had also directed Pan's Labyrinth and the Hell Boy films which were movies that were dark and surreal in their presentation and tone(The latter being lighter at times) so when I learned some time back that he was making a giant monster movie I was surprised yet excited. Del Toro wanted to create a film that would introduce the genre to a new generation of children while also paying homage to classic Mecha and Kaiju movies and franchises while having its own identity.
Just by looking at the trailers you can instantly tell that one of the movie's strong points is it's detailed visuals and action sequences. The battle are fast paced and brutal but at the same time you can actually tell what is going on compared to the messy and rather chaotic fight scenes in the Michael Bay Transformers films. It helps that each combatant(robot and monster) has their own unique design and fighting style. This is the type of movie you would need to see on the big screen to get the full experience but I would avoid going to see it in 3D if I were you.
A lot of creativity went into this film and you can see much of Del Toro's influence especially when you look at the monsters( referred to as Kaiju in the movie) that are both pretty freaky and yet have their own sense of "elegance" to them. The director put a lot of heart into this movie and it shows but while its a lot of fun it does have its problems and this is coming from someone who really enjoyed it.
If you have seen plenty of monster movies or just a lot of science fiction you will notice a lot of recurring themes and cliches from other movies and shows in addition to character archetypes. This is not necessarily the product of lazy screen writing. As I said the movie is made as a homage so its kind of expected to see some shout outs here and there so its up to the viewers as to whether or not this is going to be an issue.
The cast is a bit of a mixed bag. Our leads are played by Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi who play Raleigh Becket and Mako Mori respectively. Their characters are nothing new although their biggest assets are their scenes together in which they try to bond and work together to overcome their own struggles as well as finding the strength to face the wrath of the terrible behemoths rising from the ocean. The guys who really steal the show are definitely the side characters. Idris Elba plays four star badass Stacker Pentecost who I really wish got to do more in the movie. Ron Perlman plays a Kaiju organ trafficker which I thought was simply awesome ham and cheese. We also got Charlie Day from "Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia" playing a monster fanboy and Burn Gorman playing a wacky over the top genius some of you guys might find these two either a joy to watch or grating but I will seriously take these two over Skid and Mudflap any day of the week. Overall the cast gets the job done and whether or not they leave an impression will vary from viewer to viewer.
Strangely enough I found myself wanting to see more fighting and action. Usually I put story and characters above most other things but since those are a sorta hit or miss I was hoping for more of the battles between the monsters and the robots because those moments are the real highlight of this film. But I was happy with what I saw so I cant really complain here.
I feel that Del Toro has something here. One part of me wants to see this world expanded on with a sequel or perhaps a TV series(Maybe animated?) with more Kaiju, new characters, deeper character development, and more badass robots. On the other hand it maybe best that it remains a One Hit Wonder considering that he has already tied things together and I feel that he should(for at least the time being) work on other projects and save up his ammunition before attempting a sequel. The reason? Well for one thing it seems that today's audiences have become disinterested in big in your face action flicks with some people comparing it to Battleship or Transformers so that isn't helping. Also it has some competition from the new haunted house flick The Conjuring and....Adam Sandler's Grown Ups 2(*Pukes blood in mouth*). These two films have really garnered a lot of attention and while I understand the appeal of The Conjuring which I had saw yesterday actually but I will never understand why people think deer piss is comedy gold. I don't think Pacific Rim will bombsince I sure that it will at least break even but no more than that.
In the end Pacific Rim is an epic blockbuster that is intense, fun, and exciting and I whole heartily recommend you go see it as soon as you can. Kids will certainly get a kick out of it and if you grew up on monster movies or maybe anime then it may spark some fond memories. So head out to the nearest theater and get ready to Go Big Or Go Extinct!
Thank you for reading everyone and stay tuned for my review of The Conjuring. See ya later!
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