STARRING: Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Ron Perlman, Charlie Day, Clifton Collins Jr, Max Martini, Robert Kazinsky, Burn Gorman, Diego Klattenhoff.
STARRING: Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Ron Perlman, Charlie Day, Clifton Collins Jr, Max Martini, Robert Kazinsky, Burn Gorman, Diego Klattenhoff.WRITTEN BY: Travis Beacham and Guillermo Del Toro
DIRECTED BY: Guillermo Del Toro
My initial problem with the film is that there is already a sequel planned, and listed on IMDB. That basically destroys the entire heroic efforts made in the first film, ruining my experience. I was hoping Pacific Rim would be a one-shot deal, but it looks like it’s just made to be another cash cow. And, actually after experiencing Pacific Rim, it really just feels like one too.
Guillermo Del Toro is a master director, someone who has come through the ranks of Hollywood, and left behind some true masterpieces. Pan’s Labyrinth is the first, and obvious choice, but The Devil’s Backbone really put him on the map. Low budget, scary, and completely different, it could have been remade, but no one dared touch it. Instead, if you want to check it out (like Pan’s Labyrinth), you must do so in the original language, as that is the version directed by Del Toro. Heading into Pacific Rim, his fans had high expectations. Someone was giving Del Toro a ton of money to make a film, and you can see it all on screen.
The plot is based around the idea that in the near future, the Kaiji will break through the earth’s crust, and wreak havoc upon major cities all over the globe. At first, we are dangerously unprepared, and millions die. But, after all of the nations band together as one, we come up with the Jaeger program. Gigantic robots controlled by humans. At first, they realize that the robots are too much for one human mind, so they come up with a way for two people to share one mind called “drifting”. This enables two pilots to control one Jaeger. This also introduces us to Raleigh (Charlie Hunnam), a “I do what I want” pilot, who loses his brother to a Kaiji before the opening titles hit. Of course, he decides to mope about, and he goes off and works on building a gigantic wall (metaphorically, and physically) that will protect the world from the Kaiji. Of course, this idea is stupid, and after five years, he is recruited back into the Jaeger program.
After 5 years, the Jaeger program has been abandoned. It’s leader, Stacker (Idris Elba) is left with only four Jaeger, but some reportedly strong pilots. Two russians pilot one, three asians pilot another, and two Aussies pilot the third. The Aussies are legends, Hercules (Max Martini) and his son Chuck (Robert Kazinsky, recently introduced into True Blood). For the fourt, Stacker wants Raleigh, but he’ll need a partner. Through a terribly long sequence, we eventually determine that Stacker’s right hand, and surrogate daughter Mako (Rinko Kikuchi) will pilot with him. Their plan is to drop a nuclear bomb in the middle of the pathway that the Kaiji use to get above ground.
In a sub story line that becomes a major plot point, we have Newton (Charlie Day), a scientist studying the Kaiji and their physiology. He decides that he can drift with a Kaiji, and he does, and sees a huge glimpse into their world, but he needs to see more, so he has to track down a black market Kaiji body part dealer, Hannibal Chow (Ron Perlman) to get a live Kaiji brain. In many ways, Charlie Day is the Jeff Goldblum of this movie.
OK, the special effects are well spent. Visually, I think this is the most spectacular movie I’ve seen in a long time. I actually had the opportunity to enjoy this film with a D-BOX seat, and it was worth it. This film is 75% action, and 25% dialogue, so your seat is jumping around most of the movie. But there’s something missing with Pacific Rim. I would say it has only a hint of originality, and feels derivative of everything from Tranformers, to Godzilla, to Independence Day, and beyond. It never really feels like a strong original effort, and it lacks a soul. I really do enjoy the actors in the film, specifically Hunnam, Elba, Day, and Perlman, but something is missing with them. Not really in a way that seems like its their fault, but they all lack souls. You only sort of care whether they live or die, and most of that is based on their previous roles, and not on their current ones. I think the script lacks in strong character development. Instead, it hopes you will watch the shiny objects, and not care about the people controlling them. Only Kikuchi is really given a backstory (events that occur before the start of the film), everyone else is what you see, what you get.
At the end of the day, it’s a big, shiny, loud action film, but much like the Tin Man, it lacks a heart. It lacks real human characters. Even White House Down had better character development. If there is a Pacific Rim 2, I would recommend investing more in your humans than in your Kaiji or Jaeger’s. While shiny and pretty are fun to look at, they can’t hold a candle to real emotion felt when a beloved character perishes, or the edge-of-your-seat feeling you get when you don’t know if your favorite character is about to die. When major characters died in this film, I really didn’t care. For a film about preserving the human race, it seems to have missed the point entirely.
FINAL GRADE: B-
