This review will be spoiler free.
Pacific Rim: IMDB Synopsis
When an alien attack threatens the Earth’s existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace.
Kaiju. A Japanese word that translates as monster or strange beast. The Kaiju genre has been hugely popular in Japan for decades, launching with the grand daddy of them all, Godzilla back in 1954. Since then other gigantic beasts such as Gamera, Mothra, and King Kong have rampaged across Tokyo and the world. Guillermo del Toro has long been a fan of these monsters, and who better to head up a massive foray of Kaiju into American cinema than the mind behind such amazing pieces of work such as The Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy and Blade II.
So, does the man deliver? Well, I cannot think of another film in recent memory that left me in such a deliriously giddy state. Pure, unadulerated joyous destruction, spectacle and awe. A breathless opener serves to recap the state of affairs with a voiceover explaining the origin of the Kaiju threat while the first encounter, the destruction of San Francisco, is shown. In the near future, a rift opens in the depth of the pacific ocean which serves as a portal letting monstrous creatures into our world. Humanity bands together to repel this threat by creating the Jaeger program, giant mechs controlled by two pilots locked in a neural connection. The movie picks up 5 years into the Jaeger program as the Kaijus have started to adapt to this new line of defense, and mankind’s last hope starts to fail.
Our lead is Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnan, Sons of Anarchy), a former Jaeger pilot who was one of the first to fall to one of the new wave of more powerful Kaiju, losing his brother and co-pilot in the battle. He is recruited back into the program by Marshall Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba), paired with a new pilot Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi), for one last attempt to turn the tide against the Kaiju.
The biggest fear going into Pacific Rim was that perhaps the cast and character development would fare little better than a typical summer blockbuster, leaving a somewhat hollow visual spectacle. Instead does a admirable job of getting you invested. Raleigh is somewhat of a blank slate/audience surrogate. Elba is suitably badass and commanding in his role and Kikuchi grows from a somewhat timid character to someone you can get behind after some of her past is filled in. The neural connection between pilots gives us insights and backstory, predictable stuff but a useful tool in helping us invest in the characters. While the pilots gain understanding about the loss and traumas each other has been through, so do we. It is said in the film “the deeper the bond, the better you fight,” and it is also the case that the deeper the bond with the cast the more invested we become in the film. It’s a testament to the writers (Del Toro and Travis Beacham) that a simple training sequence between two of the cast is on a similarly intense level to a Jaeger/Kaiju mashup.
The rest of the cast do an admirable job. The other Jaeger teams are populated with an array of characters that make you yearn for more information about these rockstars who have held the line for each of their countries. We do get a surprising amount of humor too, mainly in the form of Charlie Day’s character (It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia) who strikes a perfect balance between eccentric and comedic in his role as a Kaiju expert. His fellow scientist Burn Gorman (Torchwood) is played up as a bit of a British stereotype, much to my chagrin. Ron Pearlman (Son’s of Anarchy, Hellboy) struts into the movie wearing some of the most badass shoes I have ever seen. He plays Hannibal Chau, a Kaiju organ dealer running his business out of a future Tokyo. All I will say is he makes more of his limited screentime than anyone else in the picture.
All that said, this is a film about giant creatures slugging it out. The action is superb. Effects have a depth and weight to them that imbue a realistic feel to everything. Battles are visceral and epic and in all things a sense of scale is delivered into every shot. Destruction is massive but feels dramatic and not for the sake of itself. The Kaiju are beautiful as well as monstrous characters, featuring a staggering amount of detail and thought behind their appearance and movement. The Jaegers also have their own history and ties to their country of origin. All this helps you invest and feel when these giants collide. Instead of being a convoluted CGI-fest, we see brutal, intense smackdowns with a realness I have not seen on this scale before.T he production values are in your face and it is a joyous thing to see — $200 million is a small price to pay to see Del Toro’s imagination so lavishly unleashed upon the screen. While big in conception there is a simplicity to the film reminiscent of Star Wars. It stays intimate and you feel attached throughout. From the characters to the creations, I found it amusing that the most sophisticated creation ever to come from humanity will wield a cargo ship as a bludgeon even when advanced technology is available. Indeed, there is one gleeful moment I cannot spoil, but a simple word and button on Gypsy Danger (the American Jaeger) being pressed unleashes an epic visual as well as joyous cheers from the audience. The scale allowed Del Toro to add an immense level of detail to every aspect of the film and it is that personal touch that brings everything to life and makes it such a success.
$200 million is a small price to pay to see Del Toro’s imagination so lavishly unleashed upon the screen.
We have a original film here, but one that draws from a rich history. It is imbued with love for Kaiju films but also is reminiscent of H.P. Lovecraft, the Titans from Greek mythology, and Harryhausen movies. It is hard to find anything to complain about. It was such an overwhelming experience. It feels like del Toro held nothing back, which is unsurprising as in this day original works can often stumble at the box office, and he may not get a chance to revisit this Universe he has created again (which would be a travesty in my eyes). I want to see more. I want to see the original old school Jaegers take on the type 1 Kaijus, I want to know about the different pilots and how their countries idolized them and above all things, I swear I will somehow find out the circumstances of how the British Jaeger fell — I am sure it was suitably epic (editor’s note: eh, it’s Britain, probably unremarkable and boring), just as I am sure the French Jaegar is still hiding in a barn somewhere. This film schools the Transformers series on how to present giant robots and puts the upcoming Godzilla movie (2014) on notice. It is rich, vibrant, intense, brilliant film making and a lesson on how, if you’re going to go big for a movie, you have to go really big. A new mark has been reached in epicness.
For the effect it had on a group of 20–40 year olds I was with, one can only imagine how kids will flip out. I gleefully anticipate ‘Jaeger Vs Kaiju‘ battles in the playground. Simply put, Pacific Rim is further evidence Del Toro should be given the money to make whatever he wants.
The screening I attended was supported by Austin based Odd City Entertainment, an art and events company that brought with them their newest poster release, a beautiful screenprint by James Fosdike. This image really develops new layers of poignancy after a viewing of the film, I assure you.
Odd City will be releasing more posters in the coming weeks by artists such as Gabz, NE from New Flesh, Graham Erwin, and Todd Slater. Check them out at http://oddcityentertainment.com/ or follow them on Twitter @OddCityNews.