In the year 2020, the earth is under constant attack from Kaiju, gigantic beasts that emerge from the ocean floor. To combat this, humanity has constructed the Jaegers, mechs that run on duel pilots via a system that links the pilots' brains together and allow for near-perfect synchronization. When the outbreak begins to become even too much for the originators of the program itself, a last ditch effort is concocted, and humanity prepares to make a potential final stand against these foreign, monstrous invaders.
Confession time: I haven't been particularly enjoying this summer's movie schedule. True, I have seen very few films released within the past two months (or even throughout the entire year), but something just feels so lacking about 2013. Maybe it was that some films forgot how to have fun most of the time, or were trying too hard to be something they didn't need to be in the first place. When the trailers for Pacific Rim first hit the internet, my interest was piqued. An homage to several "geeky" genres that I grew up adoring from movie master Guillermo Del Toro? This could be interesting.
The plot to Pacific Rim may seem oddly familiar to those well-versed in anime (the similarities to all time great Neon Genesis Evangelion are understandable), but thankfully the film isn't a complete knockoff. Au contraire! Del Toro's latest project combines many of the best elements from a multitude of genres into one very entertaining package that just manages to sneak past the two-hour mark. I was honestly disappointed that this film DIDN'T run longer, as there are a plethora of certain characters and Jaegers that leave you disappointed that you didn't see more of them. Perhaps that's what a director's cut DVD is for. I do happen to know that a tie-in comic was recently released, so perhaps there are further adventures of our brave pilots that one simply has to track down through easy means. This of course means you have to venture to a comic book store, which certainly isn't a bad thing.
Our cast of characters are a bit of a mixed bag, though none of them border on being "bad" per se. Main lead Charlie Hunnam does a capable job of playing a former Jaeger pilot coerced into rejoining the program many years after his co-pilot (who was coincidentally his own brother) was killed in battle with a kaiju. Rinko Kikuchi and Idris Elba play Hunnam's new co-pilot and superior respectively, and both knock it out of the park. Shockingly, I've never seen Kikuchi act prior to her role here, but I'm definitely paying attention from now on. Her presence felt genuine (i.e. not the cliched "chick" in a science fiction film), and once her character starts developing throughout the film, you find it hard not to like her and feel sympathetic for the young lady. Elba's already proven that he's a fine actor, and his stern, serious, but still very much human character thankfully escapes from the pit of cliches as well. Perhaps the only cliched characters are the supporting cast, who as I mentioned, don't get as much screen time as you would hope. Making the Russian pilots stoic and the Chinese pilots acrobatic? Certainly not your wildest idea Guillermo, but I think we can forgive you for it. Oh, and for you It's Always Sunny fanatics, yes Charlie Day is awesome here, playing one of two scientists studying the kaiju,
Rim's fight sequences a bit hard to comprehend if you have bad eyesight, but easily rival anything seen this summer, and at times surpass them. The immense scale of the entire thing blows Man of Steel's DBZ-esque fights out of the water. I'm quite surprised at how many people seem to be unimpressed with the designs of the mechs themselves. Perhaps we've been spoiled by the dull Transformers films and Michael Bay's absolutely hideous approach to how a giant robot should look. One of my biggest complaints about that franchise is that you can never quite tell which robot is which unless you hear them talk (especially in the second film. Oy vey.), but thankfully this doesn't seem to be a severe issue here. The detail in every creation is unveiled over time, and leaves you quite impressed that we as a society, even in a fictional universe, could build not just one of these, but several. Even the kaijus themselves are rather impressive, looking like more demented versions of the enemies seen throughout the Ultraman series and Gamera motion pictures. I happen to know that toys have already been manufactured for this film, and I can hope that they look just as impressive scaled down as they did here.
Guillermo Del Toro has been quoted as saying that he made this film in order to expose today's younger generation to the wonders of kaiju eiga (a.k.a. giant monster movies) and mecha (a.k.a. giant robots). Hell, there's even a tribute to deceased greats Ishiro Honda and Ray Harryhausen in the credits. But in reality, I think this can just as easily appeal to the inner teenager in you that never quite went away. In fact, the teenager in you isn't just going to like Pacific Rim, it may downright be in awe of it at times. For the likes of us who grew up on a healthy diet of Japanese culture and Saturday morning fun, this is the motion picture to make your summer that much better, or perhaps even remedy any faults you've had with it. I may venture back to the cinema for this one, and may even decide on catching an IMAX screening if the option is there.
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