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| "Today we are canceling the apocalypse!" |
After the almost endlessly long wait, Pacific Rim is finally here, and it's everything that your inner ten year old could ever want the movie to be. As I write this review, my birthday has come and gone (July 15th for those who are curious) and I am now twenty eight years old. Even though I'm ridiculously close to knocking on the door of thirty years, the very idea of Pacific Rim still talks to that kid who resides in me. "Why is that?" you ask, because giant robots are cool!
Sometimes all a movie needs to do in order to breakthrough to that inner child is to simply be a lot of fun watch.
A big part of my birthday celebration this year had a lot to do with my friends and I getting together and deciding that we would mark the occasion with what would hopefully turn out to be an incredible experience. My friend Leo graciously bought my ticket for the 3-D showing, and I can thankfully say that this was one of the best birthday presents I've had in a while. The 3-D looked amazing, the giant robot battles were everything I wanted them to be, and I even got a little chocked up at few of the more emotional scenes the flick offered. Not since The Avengers or The Expendables 2 have I been honestly able say that I was this entertained at the theater. My friends and I practically lost our collective $h*T over how much fun this movie was to watch.
(On a side note, I would like to take a moment to apologize to those who had to share the Cinemark theater with all of us that night. We didn't mean to get so incredibly into the movie, it just sort of happened. I'm sure all the clapping and hollering during every major moment in the fight scenes got annoying, but you've got to admit that stuff was pretty damn awesome! That part where Gypsy Danger hit the Kaiju with the boat, or when they went into space, or when- Sorry, got a tad carried away there... The point is you saw how awesome everything in this movie was. I hope you can understand that we were just having a really good time. Also try to understand that sharing the theater with a bunch of man-children who happen to think "Giant robots beating the snot out of Godzilla monsters is like the most coolest thing ever! OMG!" were bound to get just a little excited. With that said, again I'm sorry for the cheers, but dammit! This movie was awesome!)
I am going to put this out here now though so that I can simply get it out of the way; Pacific Rim is the sort of movie that most mainstream critics hate. It isn't for everyone, as not all viewers are going to be on board with Pacific Rim's outlandishly bombastic escapades of over-the-top carnage. There are no bones about it, this movie is seen by plenty of its peers as being about as deep as a puddle, and as gratifying as a single bite of milk chocolate. While those individuals are correct in their statements regarding Pacific Rim, they are also the people who seem to forget that kids love puddles and chocolate. Even though you're an adult, it is okay to enjoy something for being more simplistic in nature. Just because you've gotten older doesn't mean you have to become an older person at heart. Is Pacific Rim the most intellectually stimulating or artistically fulfilling picture of the year? Not really, but it is probably the most entertaining one I've seen so far.
(On a side note, I would like to take a moment to apologize to those who had to share the Cinemark theater with all of us that night. We didn't mean to get so incredibly into the movie, it just sort of happened. I'm sure all the clapping and hollering during every major moment in the fight scenes got annoying, but you've got to admit that stuff was pretty damn awesome! That part where Gypsy Danger hit the Kaiju with the boat, or when they went into space, or when- Sorry, got a tad carried away there... The point is you saw how awesome everything in this movie was. I hope you can understand that we were just having a really good time. Also try to understand that sharing the theater with a bunch of man-children who happen to think "Giant robots beating the snot out of Godzilla monsters is like the most coolest thing ever! OMG!" were bound to get just a little excited. With that said, again I'm sorry for the cheers, but dammit! This movie was awesome!)
I am going to put this out here now though so that I can simply get it out of the way; Pacific Rim is the sort of movie that most mainstream critics hate. It isn't for everyone, as not all viewers are going to be on board with Pacific Rim's outlandishly bombastic escapades of over-the-top carnage. There are no bones about it, this movie is seen by plenty of its peers as being about as deep as a puddle, and as gratifying as a single bite of milk chocolate. While those individuals are correct in their statements regarding Pacific Rim, they are also the people who seem to forget that kids love puddles and chocolate. Even though you're an adult, it is okay to enjoy something for being more simplistic in nature. Just because you've gotten older doesn't mean you have to become an older person at heart. Is Pacific Rim the most intellectually stimulating or artistically fulfilling picture of the year? Not really, but it is probably the most entertaining one I've seen so far.
It's simple enough to sum up the plot to Pacific Rim. Enormous beasts (known as Kaiju) emerge from a trans-dimensional gateway deep in the Pacific ocean (known as The Breach) The Kaiju start causing all sorts of havoc on earth, so in order to better combat them, mankind creates giant robots (known as Jeagers) and we essentially have our story. Giant robots versus giant monsters, if the robots and their respective pilots lose the fight then humanity is done for. While it isn't exactly Citizen Kane, or a work of Shakespeare, it is surprisingly deeper than its concept initially lets on. We have characters that are impressively complex given the material, and even some twists that you probably wouldn't expect to find in a film with as admittedly silly an idea. There are plenty of emotional moments that legitimately pull at the heartstrings, and give a good deal of gravitas to all the action. So in a funny little way, you get more than what you actually bargain for. Still, there is a metric ton of action movie cliches' to be found here, but Pacific Rim does them so well that it doesn't bother me at any one given point. In fact, every time a cliche' came up, I found myself saying "Why wouldn't that happen? This is a giant robot movie, it has to do that!" They say that honesty is the best policy, and Pacific Rim makes no illusions about itself, it knows exactly what it's supposed to be and embraces that fact. It doesn't compromise its integrity by lying to the audience or attempting to be something it's not.
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| Badass in a can! |
The actors hold their own and make the most of their parts, regardless of the size of their role. This movie could have not given the characters any dimension whatsoever and I don't think anyone in the crowd would have noticed. Impressively enough, all the actors bring their A game, and make every character a blast to watch. Idris Elba steals the show as the seemingly always badass and ever stoic Stacker Pentecost. His inspirational speech at the film's climax got cheers and applause out of my group with the greatest of ease. Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi both do great as the respective male and female leads. Their budding romance feels natural, and when they finally team up to save the day, it comes off as believable and gratifying. Burn Gorman and Charlie Day provide a good deal of the comedy in Pacific Rim, eliciting laughs every time they have an exchange of witticisms. Even smaller roles from the likes of Del Toro mainstay Ron Pearlman (Hellboy, for those who don't know) or the voice over cameo of Ellen McLain (the voice of Glados from Portal) make for fun little add ons to an otherwise solid cast that does great work with the script.
Even with the surprisingly solid story and characters, the main attraction to this movie is the fight scenes. My good gawd the fight scenes! For anyone who considers themselves a fan of giant robots in some capacity, this is your movie. The CGI is topnotch, with the big money shot moments being palpable well into the back row of the theater. You can feel the weight of the Jeagers and Kaiju with every step they take, and when a punch is thrown the impact rocks your socks off. Thanks to the immaculate cinematography that captures every bit of the action on screen, you never feel like you miss a beat. The excellent precision of the camera work here is so impressive that I think this only proves further that Guillermo Del Toro is one of Hollywood's best visual directors. The implementation of 3-D gives all the scenes a great deal of depth, and only adds to the overall sensation of just how big these combatants actually are. It is abundantly clear that the makers of this movie love giant robots with every fiber of their being, and put the utmost of their efforts into making these sequences shine.
Ramin Djawadi's composition of the film's score feels appropriately big when the need arises, and yet again he creates incredibly catchy orchestral tunes that one will hum for weeks to come. While not all of the themes come off as stand out pieces, the main theme really captures the sensation of old school giant robot/giant monster movies. His use of big brass and strings enhance the grandeur of the fights to the levels they need to go, making every fight feel that much more integral to mankind's survival.
Despite all of my praise, there is at least one negative that I can't ignore. The respective pilots of the Russian and Chinese Jeagers barely have a moments notice in this story. Let alone enough time to do anything significant in the scenes that you think would be meant to develop them. While I understand they are not the main characters, I do feel that giving them more influence in the narrative would make their presence feel more relevant seeing as how they are meant to play a pivotal role in the second act climax. At almost three hours in length, I think Pacific Rim's story could afford to give a little more insight to those characters. Thankfully that is the only negative that I can come up with, and it isn't a deal breaker for me in the slightest.
Overall, Pacific Rim currently stands as perhaps one of the best love letter films to a genre that I've ever seen! All the overt nods and subtle references to the genre that the creators implement are fun to spot, and help make Pacific Rim just that much more enjoyable to see. For the more genre savvy viewers, you may find yourself noting those references as well, and may even perhaps geek out as much my friends and I. Again, I won't be so bold as to say that this is a perfect film, but it does exactly what it set out to do as a fun summer blockbuster, and that's something to admire.
Even with the surprisingly solid story and characters, the main attraction to this movie is the fight scenes. My good gawd the fight scenes! For anyone who considers themselves a fan of giant robots in some capacity, this is your movie. The CGI is topnotch, with the big money shot moments being palpable well into the back row of the theater. You can feel the weight of the Jeagers and Kaiju with every step they take, and when a punch is thrown the impact rocks your socks off. Thanks to the immaculate cinematography that captures every bit of the action on screen, you never feel like you miss a beat. The excellent precision of the camera work here is so impressive that I think this only proves further that Guillermo Del Toro is one of Hollywood's best visual directors. The implementation of 3-D gives all the scenes a great deal of depth, and only adds to the overall sensation of just how big these combatants actually are. It is abundantly clear that the makers of this movie love giant robots with every fiber of their being, and put the utmost of their efforts into making these sequences shine.
Ramin Djawadi's composition of the film's score feels appropriately big when the need arises, and yet again he creates incredibly catchy orchestral tunes that one will hum for weeks to come. While not all of the themes come off as stand out pieces, the main theme really captures the sensation of old school giant robot/giant monster movies. His use of big brass and strings enhance the grandeur of the fights to the levels they need to go, making every fight feel that much more integral to mankind's survival.
Despite all of my praise, there is at least one negative that I can't ignore. The respective pilots of the Russian and Chinese Jeagers barely have a moments notice in this story. Let alone enough time to do anything significant in the scenes that you think would be meant to develop them. While I understand they are not the main characters, I do feel that giving them more influence in the narrative would make their presence feel more relevant seeing as how they are meant to play a pivotal role in the second act climax. At almost three hours in length, I think Pacific Rim's story could afford to give a little more insight to those characters. Thankfully that is the only negative that I can come up with, and it isn't a deal breaker for me in the slightest.
Overall, Pacific Rim currently stands as perhaps one of the best love letter films to a genre that I've ever seen! All the overt nods and subtle references to the genre that the creators implement are fun to spot, and help make Pacific Rim just that much more enjoyable to see. For the more genre savvy viewers, you may find yourself noting those references as well, and may even perhaps geek out as much my friends and I. Again, I won't be so bold as to say that this is a perfect film, but it does exactly what it set out to do as a fun summer blockbuster, and that's something to admire.
Positive Factors
- Your inner ten year old finally has the movie it's been waiting for. This movie will make you feel like a kid again.
- Story offers up more depth and complexity than one would initially think.
- Actor performances are solid all around, with Idris Elba totally stealing the show.
- Giant robot/monster battles are some of the best seen of its kind.
- Solid composition provides catchy tunes and appropriately awesome tracks for the fights.
- Nods and references to the genre all around, if you're a giant robot fan, this is a love letter to you.
Negative Factors
- Not everyone is going to be on board for this sort of concept.
- Some characters get practically no development time, and feel rather inconsequential to the plot because of it.
Overall I agree with you, though I still say Hunnam has the screen presence of a wet noodle.
ReplyDeleteOne of the major pluses for me is that there was no explicit romance in the relationship between the lead characters. It was simply a connection between two people, and I really liked that -- it felt fresh.
I almost saw them as Frodo and Samwise in a way.
Plus, she's replacing his brother in his mind, so that could get kind of awkward if the romance went further...