The Lowdown:Guillermo del Toro’s larger-than-life love letter to mechs and monster movies is so kick-ass awesome that I don’t even have an appropriate metaphor to end this sentence with. Pacific Rim is, without a doubt, the biggest, loudest, and most visually and creatively stunning summer blockbuster of 2013.
1. The Plot: In the near future, a portal to another dimension has appeared at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, and from it emerges massive alien creatures called “Kaiju” (Japanese for “monster”) that begin to devastate the world. To fight back, the humans create equally enormous mechanical robots called “Jaegers” (German for “hunter”). The Jaeger must be controlled by two people (one person isn’t enough) who have the capability to “drift”, meaning that their memories are linked when inside the Jaeger so that coordination between the humans and the robot are optimized.Raleigh Beckett (Charlie Hunnam) is a Jaeger pilot along with his brother, but one fateful encounter with a Kaiju results in the death of his brother, resulting in Raleigh swearing off piloting a Jaeger forever. Five years pass, and Marshall Pentecost (Idris Elba) is facing a crisis; the Kaiju are adapting and growing stronger, and the government is shutting down the Jaeger Program in favor of a new strategy that (surprise, surprise) doesn’t work. In a desperate move, Pentecost is scraping together the last remaining Jaegers for a final showdown at Hong Kong, near the Kaiju portal. He calls on Raleigh to come back and pilot a jaeger in this time of need. Raleigh agrees, and soon, the battle for Earth is underway.
2. The Characters: Raleigh is played by Charlie Hunnam in a bland fashion. There isn’t a whole lot to his character other than that he is tortured by the death of his brother. His acting also feels stiff compared to the other actors. Especially when compared to Idris Elba, who owns the screen and steals every scene as Marshall Pentecost, the “takes no bullshit” leader of the Jaeger Program. Elba’s screen presence, as well as his intense acting, easily makes his character the best character in the film. He can also deliver inspirational speeches very well.
Idris Elba: Total badass.
Rinko Kikuchi plays Mako Mori, a jaeger expert and determined pilot-in-training. However, Pentecost is always holding her back from actually piloting a jaeger. In a barely-mentioned romantic subplot, it is revealed that she also has a crush on Raleigh. Other, more colorful characters include Newton (Charlie Day) and Gottlieb (Burn Gorman), two endlessly bickering scientists who make up the kaiju research department. Newton’s intense fascination for the kaiju ultimately leads him and Gottlieb into extreme, dangerous, and sometimes hilarious situations. One of these situations involves Hannibal Chau, played by Guillermo del Toro veteran, Ron Perlman (Hellboy). Chau is a black market kaiju dealer, specializing in stealing and selling parts of dead kaiju, and Perlman’s screen persona and eccentric charm make Chau one of the film’s most memorable characters.
My face is less red this time around.
3. A True Visionary: I don't know how Guillermo del Toro does it. He lets his imagination run wild in every film he has ever made, and what he comes up with is always so gorgeous and intricate. I know I'm gushing, but after I saw Pan's Labyrinth (2006) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), I was convinced of del Toro's talent for exquisite visuals. Pacific Rim is no exception. The Kaiju are breathtaking, both in a fearsome and beautiful way. It is no secret that del Toro is paying homage to Japanese monster movies such as Godzilla, as the Kaiju basically exist to cause catastrophic destruction. Each Kaiju is unique in its design, since each one has a different form and different abilities that are showcased in spectacular fight scenes with the Jaegers. Speaking of the Jaegers, it is clear that del Toro is referencing Japanese mecha anime, such as Gundam or Neon Genesis Evangelion or Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagaan (I highly recommend each of these anime, by the way). Just like the Kaiju, these mechanical monstrosities are uniquely and intricately designed and so big that they are scary. Each Jaeger is controlled by two humans (because one wasn’t enough) that have to be linked via their own thoughts in order to optimize coordination during fighting. Despite their enormous size, they aren’t invincible, but they provide a formidable match to the Kaiju. Guillermo del Toro’s aesthetics are rarely equaled. Pacfic Rim dazzles with colors covering the entire spectrum. From the brilliantly-colored contraptions in the Jaeger control room, to the neon wonderland of Hong Kong, to even the murky depths of the ocean floor, the visuals are pure eye candy. Even during the many action scenes, crisp and vibrant colors flash across the screen and keep you mesmerized. It’s almost like watching a light show, except there are huge robots fighting alien monsters.
Speaking of the fighting, I have rarely seen this much action and destruction in a film. The scale of the film is so large that it makes you feel tiny and insignificant. Cities are rampaged through and skyscrapers topple like dominoes. The destruction is so thorough and so intense, but the film treats these scenes with the appropriate gravity; the death of thousands is not to be taken lightly.
Who's gonna clean this up?
The numerous fight scenes in the film are so big and bombastic, yet so intricately choreographed and framed. In Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), the action was comprised of many shaky, incomprehensible shots of robots that filled up the whole frame, pummeling each other until you couldn’t tell who was fighting whom anymore. In Pacific Rim, Guillermo del Toro maintains control over each action sequence. “Control” is the key word here. The Kaiju and Jaegers are so large that they also take up the whole screen, but even during a chaotic fight scene, the audience can still make out the fighters. The framing keeps everything in perspective and keeps the scale of the film consistent. The camera also remains focused and steady. Clearly, del Toro and his team storyboarded these action sequences, allowing the creative juices to flow. The Kaiju and Jaegers use their environments to their advantage, along with their special abilities; they aren’t just pummeling each other endlessly for two hours. The result is spellbinding action that is almost operatic. The Bottom Line:Gundams vs. Godzilla. Need I say more? Pacific Rim strikes the perfect balance between good old-fashioned summer blockbusters and filmmaking artistry. What the film lacks in story and character development it more than makes up for in sheer scale and craft. The film is both a unique sci-fi adventure and a technical wonder, exhibiting a level of imagination that is rarely seen in movies today. The bottom line is that Pacific Rim is simply EPIC. See it in IMAX if you can!Pacific Rimis property of Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures. This review was written by me.
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