I have to confess, I completely enjoyed this film. And just because I enjoyed it doesn’t mean it was good or had any redeeming value. This is the definition of a guilty pleasure. This is what ‘The Transformers’ should have been. If I were a 14 yr old adolescent, I would be seeing this movie over and over again. It’s giant monsters versus giant robots in epic city leveling confrontations. What is not to love? It brought me back to my Saturday morning ‘creature features’ movies with classics such as Godzilla vs Megalon, only with incredible special effects and actual production value. It is adolescent nerd Nirvana.
A brief synopsis; in the near future, Earth is being invade through an inter-dimensional rift at the bottom of the ocean. From out of these vortexes comes giant building size monsters called ‘Kaijus’ bent on destroying the nearest coastal cities it can find. In response, humans build equally massive robots called ‘Jaegers’ (German for ‘Hunters’) that are so large it takes two pilots to operate who are linked through a telepathic bridge called ‘drifting’. At first, this seems to be working and the pilots of these robots are treated like rock stars throughout the world. Then it becomes apparent that the monsters are coming forth from the abyss more frequently and each more powerful than the last. The human robots are being defeated faster than they can be built. Humanity begins to become aware that they are facing extinction. C’mon, my inner kid is going nuts over this.
The special effects are what really makes this film work. Throughout the entire film, I found myself whispering; “cool”, no matter how lame the dialogue or how improbable the plot line. The pilots of all the robots are video game square jaw generic and the down and out protagonist’s story is almost cliché. That doesn’t mean there aren’t some real actors in this film giving respectable performances. Idris Elba (this guy can do no wrong in my book) plays the resistance commander Stacker Pentecost (love the name btw). Many people don’t realize that Idris is British because he usually uses an American accent in movies, so it almost seems fake when he uses his actual accent. He reeks the manly gravitas and authority necessary for a global commander. Charlie Day (of ‘It’s Always Sunny’ fame) and Burn Gorman play the comic relief as the scientists racing to find a way to stop the onslaught of monsters into our world. Each providing welcome lightness in an, at times, overly dark film.
Director Guillermo Del Toro is someone I have followed since his days as an indie film maker. He always has a unique, and slightly macabre, vision that is often under appreciated due to his low budgets. His ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ was a masterpiece that went widely unnoticed due to it’s creepiness, but sticks in my mind as an incredibly powerful and unique artistic vision . ‘Pacific Rim’ is a big budget film that fits Guillermo’s strengths. It allows him to utilize his love of monstrous and exotic creatures even if it does not allow him to fully display his skill as a story teller.
If you are able to put aside your disbelief, this movie can be a fun ride. Anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of engineering or physics knows that it’s impossible to have robots or creatures this big as they would collapse under their own weight. Who cares? Take whatever kids you have in your life, grab a big bucket of popcorn and a ‘Big Gulp’ soda, go to your nearest multiplex theater, and have fun watching a matinee movie. Prepare to say ‘awesome’ as often as the kids as you watch this (even if you have to roll your eyes at it’s cheesiness just to keep up appearances).
I give this film **1/2 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment