‘Pacific Rim’ is a film that combines two genres
into one. It’s a Kaiju movie and a mecha movie all rolled into one film. Kaiju,
which means ‘strange creature’ in English, have been represented on film by
creatures such as Godzilla, Gamera, and King Ghidorah. As for the mecha (in
other words, giant robots), they have been in not just films (from ‘Star Wars’
to James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’) but also other forms of media as well; perhaps
most notably the Gundam video game series. A movie like that definitely sounds
interesting, but even more so when considering that the man behind the camera is
director Guillermo Del Toro, responsible for films like the ‘Hellboy’ series and
‘Pan’s Labyrinth’. His latest film does not disappoint. Sure, when you look at it,
‘Pacific Rim’ is a film that technically is more style over substance, but it
is still very entertaining, delivering on exactly what it promises; giant
robots fighting giant monsters.
In the future, giant monsters known as ‘Kaiju’
emerge from a portal in a crevice located beneath the Pacific Ocean and begin
to attack, causing massive damage all over the world. In response to this, the
governments of Earth unite and create giant robots called Jaegers to fight the
Kaiju menace. At first, they apparently succeed but the Kaiju keep on coming
and as more and more emerge from the portal, the governments ultimately decide
to terminate the Jaeger program while still keeping a few of the Jaegers
running in Hong Kong. While this is going on, former Jaeger pilot Raleigh
Becket (Charlie Hunnam), whose co-pilot brother was killed during a fight with
a Kaiju, is recruited back into the program by his former commanding officer Stacker
Pentecost (Idris Elba), where he is partnered with rookie pilot Mako Mori
(Rinko Kikuchi) as the two of them and the other Jaeger pilots look to put an
end to the Kaiju before the Kaiju destroy them.
If you’re coming into this movie expecting giant
robot/monster action, then you will not be disappointed. There is plenty of
that in this movie and it is pretty sweet. Del Toro is known for his great
visuals in the films he makes, and that is once again the case here, even
though all of the action scenes are pretty much 100% CGI. Del Toro is mainly
known for doing a lot of practical creature effects, but the CGI here is really
good. Both the Jaegers and the Kaiju creatures look really convincing and the
fight scenes are well-done. They’re shot really well so you can see what’s
going on. Also, while I don’t necessarily recommend it, this film is worth seeing
in 3-D because it’s some pretty good 3-D. This movie was post-converted into
3-D, making it one of the better post-converted 3-D films in the years since
3-D became main-stream.
Admittedly, despite the great action, this movie
does suffer a little from style over substance, but that’s not to say the human
characters in the film are totally bland. Hunnam and Kikuchi are solid leads on
their own, but they are overshadowed by some of their costars, namely two. The first
is Idris Elba, who has undeniable presence as the commander of the Jaeger
pilots. In fact, in a movie like this, there is actually a lot of depth to his
character; namely from his relationship to Mako, as he’s pretty much a father
figure to her. The other actor who steals the show is Del Toro regular Ron
Perlman in a scene-stealing performance as an black market salesman that one of
the Jaeger scientists (played by Charlie Day, in a role that some might find
rather annoying but in the end, he does grow on you) goes to in order to find a
Kaiju brain. Like Elba, he has a great screen presence and without giving
anything else away, this results in a little post-credits scene that is both
funny and quite unexpected.
So, with a film like ‘Pacific Rim’, this is a film
where if you go in expecting giant robots and giant monsters fighting one
another, than you will not be disappointed. From a visual standpoint, the film
looks fantastic and Del Toro’s visual flair is certainly present in this movie.
However, this does mean that the film is a little bit style over substance but
the cast still does a good job (especially Idris Elba and Ron Perlman) despite
the fact that the action and visuals clearly overshadow the story and character
development. But, for this film, it’s not that big of a problem because it
delivers when it comes to exciting giant robot versus giant monster action.
This is a very fun and entertaining summer blockbuster that I certainly recommend
to anyone who’s just looking for a fun time at the movies. I say this especially
when considering that this ‘original’ film got out-grossed at the box office in
its first weekend by an unnecessary comedy sequel.
Rating: 4/5
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