Pacific Rim will not only entertain the 12-year-old in you but actually 12-year-olds!
Robots beat up giant monsters. Did I mention these robots are giant as well? Sorry, I didn’t say that earlier. It’s a hard aspect of Pacific Rim to forget as it is the true focal point of the film. Giant robots beat up giant monsters to save the world. That is pretty much it. But that is not to say that movie is dumb or low in quality. In the aftermath of films like The Dark Knight or The Bourne Identity, there has been a question of whether summer popcorn flicks should take a more serious, realistic, and adult-theme incarnation. The answer is yes, sort of. Those films should still be opening in cinemas and should be engaging not just younger but older audience as well. But sometimes….that serious shit can go fuck itself! Maybe all I want is a giant robot to punch a giant monster (or Kaiju) in the face while eating overpriced buttered popcorn!
Here are the film’s positives:
- The action is really exciting. The director, Guillermo Del Toro, only has a handful of set pieces in the 131 minute film which allows the film to not play out the mech (or Jaeger as they are called in the film) vs. Kaiju concept too soon. You won’t be disappointed by the scenes, either. Unlike certain actions films where there are several small shootouts or chases or fights throughout the movie; Pacific Rim takes the idea of one set piece for each act, taking the pervious set piece and building upon it. With the middle action scene in Hong Kong being the best of the three.
- Another great thing about Pacific Rim has to do with its length. Most movies today, especially summer blockbusters, are averaging around two and half hours. This easily over stay’s its welcome (looking are you Lone Ranger!). Even films like White House Down, where it should be 90 minute tops, run over 2 hours long. Films really need to justify this length. Pacific Rim is 131 minutes but it doesn’t bore you. It takes time to build a universe and explain the science of the Jaeger robots which the filmmakers use to add tension to several scenes. When you finally get that action scene you have been waiting for, it does not go away in 5 minutes. It give you a 20-minute battle royal!
- I agree with my co-host Barge with this, Idris Elba is money! He commands the screen. If you are a leader of a giant robot army, how do it kept it under control. Hire Idris Elba. The other highlight of the cast is Charlie Day. His is the comic relief but really charms his way through the screen. After watching the film, I kind of want to see a Charlie Day & Ron Perlman road trip flick.
Here are the problem:
- To me everything is mostly fine to good but there is one major flaw: Del Toro seems to be more interested with the action/comic set pieces and the science/history of the world in Pacific Rim than the film’s story structure. The way the film is formatted, you will see most of the plot coming. Everything is visually very pleasing and the film moves along pretty quickly, but its nothing you haven’t see before. You feel the film has “if the structure ain’t broke, don’t fix it” complex. This is what holds the film back and it is very problematic when comes to the end of the movie. Plus, there the biggest example of a MacGuffin I had seen in a film this year.
Pacific Rim is an example of a well made fun popcorn movie. Sometimes that is all you need. The people behind the camera are well aware of this and focus the film’s most positive traits behind that idea. Now other aspects of the film suffer due to this but when Guillermo Del Toro turns to you while a Jaeger punches a giant Kaiju in the face and says “how cool is this?” How can you not smile?
7.5/10
Check out Barge’s Review of Pacific Rim Here.
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