Pacific Rim

I must confess something here: I love giant monsters. Always have, always will. Giant monsters are my childhood, more than even Star Wars or Nintendo or anything else ever were. I remember watching old Godzilla movies as a kid and loving them, desperately searching toy stores to see if they had Godzilla toys (they never did, of course), and always begging my mom to run to the video store so I could grab another one.
Now that I'm older, I haven't shaken off that old childhood love of kaiju films, but instead I found my appreciation of them has deepened into a respect for when a truly masterful monster film was made. I'll admit when one is terrible, but I'll defend the good ones to the end.
So imagine my excitement when I heard about Pacific Rim. Giant monsters against giant mechs called Jaegers, in vicious battles to the death.
I was apprehensive at first, seeing as I knew little about the film and wondered if it would be any good. My uneasiness was heightened when I read the very first plot description. It sounded cliché, and I was immediately on edge. Cliché doesn't help when an often-mocked genre is being displayed on the big screen.
My unease was put to rest when I finally got a hold of a trailer back in December, and my excitement and anticipation for this movie was ignited. This looked AWESOME! I ate up whatever information I could find, grabbed merchandise when I could, and simply counted down the days till the movie came out. And so, today at 9:00pm , my wish was fulfilled.
I saw Pacific Rim.



The Positives:

The movie grabs you and pulls you into its well-built, beautifully designed universe. I haven't seen such richness and depth to the world of a film since...well, the only one I can think of that beats this one is Star Wars.
No bullcrap shaky cam here, the camerawork is solid and well-executed. I could see the action clearly in all is glory.

The movie looks absolutely stunning. I mean stunning. I can think of only one or two shots in this entire movie that didn't look good, and that's it. Besides that...pure perfection.

The CGI and special effects are the best I've ever seen, bar none. Every shot of a Jaeger looks great, the kaiju look spectacular, and the underwater scenes are excellently done.

The action is, to put it simply, friggin' amazing. The movie may be rated PG-13, but the Jaegers and kaiju tear the crap out of each other. The violence is bloody and visceral, and more than once I was thinking, "MAN that's gotta hurt."

The score rocked. Literally, as guitarist Tom Morello aided Ramin Djawadi more than once on this film. But the score fits the film perfectly: Heroic, strong, and powerful. It adds to the film's sense of scale.

The Jaegers are brilliantly designed, and just evoke a sense of awe when you see them. A Jaeger could just be walking along and you' still freak out in childish glee.

Each Jaeger evokes a different kind of feel to it. Gipsy Danger feels like a cowboy, Stiker Eureka feels like a brawler, Crimson Typhoon feels like a Tai Chi warrior, and Cherno Alpha is akin to a tank.

The suits for the Jaeger pilots are impressive and as unique as the Jaeger. I'd wear one if I could get my hands on one.

The kaiju are just as impressive, looking gorgeously rendered. Where the Jaegers evoke a sense of awe, these nasty beasts evoke a sense of terror and ferocity. On a small note, these kaiju are actually the first ever created for a film outside of Japan. Why? Cause only Japanese monsters are always kaiju. Anywhere else and they're just a monster, except for here.

The kaiju have some pretty sweet names, and more than one have a subtle meaning to them. Leatherback doesn't mean anything, (I tried, but I couldn't find anything to translate Otachi) while Axehead, Knifehead and Bladehead are self-explanatory. Raiju refers to Japanese mythology, which is pretty cool. But Onibaba? Means "old hag." Scunner is a Scottish word for "strong dislike." And Slattern -I kid you not- means "slut, harlot, etc." Hilarious.

What do you think of when you think of a baby? Cute? Cuddly? Now think of a baby kaiju. Killer, gross, and disgusting come readily to mind.

The film has an international feel, instead of the usual "Go America!" films that are so common in modern American cinema. as director Guillermo Del Toro himself put it, "it's the world saving the world." I'm not anti-American by any means (Cause let's face it, we DO save the world) but a kaiju is an international threat, so it should an international effort to beat it,

I love that they call the monsters kaiju, and the mechs Jaegers. Seeing as kaiju is Japanese, its a nod of respect to the masters of the genre. And Jaeger...well, it's just plain cool.

The plot seemed fairly straightforward. But I was pleasantly surprised by more than one twist entering into this movie, and I felt it was an added boost.

The pacing for this movie felt pretty solid. It was high-octane when it needed to be, and more relaxed when it should be calm.

The movie avoids many, MANY of the filmmaking clichés that are so common in today's cinema, such as shaky cam. Del Toro's too smart to let that crap fly.

The characters were fun as all get out. I enjoyed watching whoever was on the screen, all the time. Which leads to...

The acting was pretty good overall. Perhaps not very deep, but I did get the sense the actors enjoyed their roles.

Shoutout for Rinko Kikuchi, who played Mako Mori in the film. I would say she's the best actor in the film, and was very enjoyable to watch. She walks and carries herself like she's tough, but emotionally she's very vulnerable and scared. I felt like I bonded to her more than any other character, mostly because I'm very similar. She's a perfectionist, and hates failure more than anything.

Mako's flashback to Tokyo is the most emotionally charge scene of the movie. Young Mako's terror at being targeted by Onibaba is intense, and pulls at the viewers heartstrings.

Sorry, but this positive cannot be spoken of without spoiling things, so I'll make this tiny. Read it later: Yancey's death is a pretty intense way to die. Heck, getting killed by any of these kaiju would be a sucky way to go.

Idris Elba as Stacker Pentecost was just... let me put it this way: Samuel L. Jackson, eat your heart out.

Raleigh and Mako's relationship was enjoyable because of what it DIDN'T do. When I first heard the plot synopsis talking about a "washed up veteran and an untested trainee" I could easily see it leading to a romance between the two. It did, but not in the way I feared it would, so I was very happy. The attraction between the two originates because of some reason I found believable, but won't go into because of spoilers.

GladOs makes a voice appearance!

The origin of the kaiju is really unique, even for a kaiju film. I won't say what cause of spoilers, but it was pretty darn cool.

Cause I can't say this without spoilers, I will revert to tiny text. Read this after you've seen it: The Anterverse and the Precursors were cool. Very cool, and felt very organic, as I heard someone say.

Newt and Herman driving each other insane is hilarious The two are important characters, but provide some comedy relief to keep the film from being too grim.

In fact, Newt might be my favorite male character in the movie. His hilarious awkwardness is pretty dang funny.

Ron Pearlman as Hannibal Chau is a pretty memorable performance. He gives an aura of toughness, wit, and piracy. Yeah, I said piracy. He's quite a character.

The film's sets, architecture, and practical effects look amazing. The conn-pods (the place where the Jaeger pilots are held) are beautiful and brilliantly designed. They range from looking sleek and modern to something out of WWII.

The bad guys are winning. THEY ARE IN CHARGE. When things go south at the battle of Hong Kong, you realize just how powerful the kaiju are, and how they're adapting to fight the Jaegers. When a Jaeger falls, they're brought down and absolutely destroyed. It's just another showcase of this film's visceral combat.

Slatter, the only Category 5 kaiju in the movie, makes one heck of an entrance. The moment he comes in, you know it's gonna be bad.

The Drift. You see, one pilot is not enough to handle a Jaeger. The machine is connected to your brain, so one person can't handle the neural load. It requires a team, and together they meld minds, initiating a stream of memories called "The Drift." One of the most original ideas a film has had in decades.

The human cast, when the time comes, rises to be heroes. Even the dirtbags rise up to the challenge, and do what needs to be done.

Another tiny text positive:
I like that the movie closes out on a note that doesn't require a sequel. No hints at another movie coming (even though I know one is being discussed), but instead a satisfying end. Oh, and the after credits scene is pretty funny.

At the end of the credits, there was a mention "In honor of Ray Harryhausen and Ishiro Honda." This is important, because the film is honoring the two masters of the monster genre. Harryhausen did a lot of special effects work in US films (Most notable being "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" and the original "Clash of the Titans") while Ishiro Honda is the original director of the Godzilla series, his most notable being the original 1954 classic, among other great sci-fi films.



The Negatives:

The human plot wasn't fantastic. There were moments where it could've gone deeper with the main characters, but fails to do so. Oh well.

While most of the side characters are fun, a few were underdeveloped(The Wei Triplets and the Russian pilots for example) and could've used some more screen time. I would've liked watching them.

Tiny Text Negative: Jeez, Crimson Typhoon and Cherno Alpha go out like sissies. I was disappointed cause I wanted to see them get some more screen time. At least their deaths were intense.


The final battle was pretty underwhelming. I knew each of the individual kaiju by name, so I was hoping they'd get more action than they did.

...And that's all I can think of. Seriously.



The Bottom Line: Pacific Rim isn't a mere kaiju film. Guillermo Del Toro, just like me, is a fan if Godzilla and other Toho greats, so when he made this movie, he knew what kind of film it had to be and what he wanted it to be. It's a love letter to the kaiju genre, a throwback to the days of being a young kid, and watching a new Godzilla film for the first time. During much of the opening portion of this film, I had my hands to my mouth just to cover my smile, I was so happy. That intoxicating sense of awe and wonder I had as a child, watching those giants fight to the death... Pacific Rim brought that awe to the new age, giving it all the top-notch special effects the genre deserves to be gifted with.
Without a doubt, Pacific Rim is the movie of the year.
I heard someone call this movie, "Star Wars for the new generation." At first, when I read that I thought that was pretty bold, but now it makes sense to me. Children will discover the kaiju genre for the first time, and it's going to impact them in ways that many other classic films did. Is this movie perfect? Nah, but it was a spectacle for all ages, and a shoo-in to win the Academy Award for Special Effects.

Having watch this, any fears I have about Legendary Picture's next monster film are put to rest completely.
What's that next film you ask? The very film that even allowed Pacific Rim to be made. The kaiju of all kaiju, the King of the Monsters...

Come May 16th, 2014, Godzilla shall return. And after Pacific Rim, I will be waiting with eager expectations.



The Final Score: 9.5/10