PACIFIC RIM

Long time no blog post here... just being busy on Tumblr.



Today's movie review is my second one.




It's all about, in my opinion one of the best movies of 2013.



As a Filipino I'm fearful that the events in this film may happen in real life, but am happy whenever a mention of Manila was made. It's a throwback tribute to the monster movies genre.... and robot themed movies and TV series that made a mark on past generations of viewers and fans alike.



And I'm happy to tell you that I've watched this a record 15 times.



It's Guillermo del Toro's PACIFIC RIM.



"To fight the monsters, we created monsters of our own". - Raleigh Becket



This "end times"- style and futuristic movie starts with a brief intro to the long conflict between the human race and the monsters coming from deep underneath the Pacific Ocean... the "Kaiju" as they call them (The name also refers to the Japanese "monster movie" genre that del Toro felt inspired during his younger days to pay homage on film) and the solution to the threat... the Jaegers of the Pan Pacific Defense Corps.... driven by two pilots with a secret mindmelding tactic: the Drift, which helps their coordination and motivates them to fight the monsters. These robots are the pride of the PPDC, and they are the focus of its campaign to end the terror once and for all.... for future generations, regardless of race, language, religion or nationality. The fate of the planet (and the nations of the Pacific, most especially) rests on their shoulders as well as on the people that are on these machines and their crews. (Ellen McLain voices their AI, by the way.)



(FYI: Jaeger is German for hunter or rifleman)



Among them: Raleigh Becket (played by Charlie Hunnam) who with his older brother Yancy (Diego Klattenhoff) pilots one of these.... Gipsy Danger. Both were veteran monster hunters with several victories over the giant enemies. Traumatized by Yancy's demise while on duty offshore in Alaska (I confess to having been shocked and having to fall to the floor whenever I watch this scene in the movie), he quits the service but after half a decade is convinced by his commander, no less than Marshal Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba) to wear his pilot suit once again.



This time through, he lands in Hong Kong only to meet a victim of the attacks: Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi), also a instructor for future pilots of the resurging program. He then meets two veteran experts: Newton "Newt" Geiszler (Charlie Day) who's a Kaiju researcher and mathematician Hermann Gottlieb (Burn Gorman), who are both later introduced to Hannibal Chau (Ron Pearlman), a local businessman with a passion for selling Kaiju remains in the black market. Newt and Hermann, despite their differences, are great assets for Stacker to fulfill his new mission. Upon entering the Shatterdome Raleigh then meets not just Gipsy but 3 more veteran Jaegers: China's Crimson Typhoon and its pilots the Wei Tang brothers (played by Charles Luu, Lance Luu and Mark Luu), Russia's veteran Jaeger, Cherno Alpha, and its pilots Aleksis and Sasha Kaidanovsky (Robert Maillet and Heather Doerksen) and Australia's Striker Eureka, with father-son tandem Hercules and Chuck Hansen (Max Martini and Robert Kazinsky) as its pilots, the fastest of them all plus Tendo Choi (Clifton Collins, Jr.) who serves as a technician in his Jaeger.Turns out his recall was part of Stacker's efforts for one final mission to fight the monsters who are now threatening the whole planet... and Mako becoming his new co-pilot (despite her turbulent past) would be an asset in his duty. The question is whenever it's gonna end a failure.... or a great sucess.



This movie, even through badly beaten in the US, is a great international hit indeed.Here in the Philippines it was no.1 for its first two weeks!



With music by Ramin Djawadi (also known for his Game of Thrones soundtrack) and a great film crew, one cannot miss watching what is surely one of the best movies of the year, and what I call a Hollywood tribute to a genre that shocked thousands since the 1950s not just in Japan but also internationally.



Ypu better watch this "awesome" film now... one of the best for 2013.



And as for me... I'll try a double viewing today.....



10/10 for me!
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