Pacific Rim

Welcome to another episode of Lights....Camera....Popcorn!

Today's review is Pacific Rim.

Directed by Guillermo Del Toro.

Written by Travis Beacham & Guillermo Del Toro.

Screen Story by Travis Beachham.

Review #223

MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence throughout, and brief language.

Run Time: 132 min

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Cast

Charlie Hunnam...Raleigh Becket

Diego Klattenhoff...Yancy Becket

Idris Elba...Stacker Pentecost

Rinko Kikuchi...Mako Mori

Charlie Day...Dr. Newton Geiszler

Burn Gorman...Gottlieb

Max Martini...Herc Hansen

Robert Kazinsky...Chuck Hansen

Clifton Collins Jr....Ops Tendo Choi

Ron Perlman...Hannibal Chau

Mana Ashida...Young Mako

Guillermo Del Toro is the geek of all geeks in Hollywood. The man makes films that become passion projects based on his never ending love for comics, sci fi, cartoons and horror. This sounds like a good thing right? Well it depends on who you ask. I am of the belief that a geek director will give said film the proper attention and respect it deserves because he or she is fully aware of the fan support and passion for the subject matter. Why do you think big time directors go to Comi-Con every year?

The drawback is that same passion the geek director has can occasionally blind them to the point blank reality that their film just doesn't work out. Did this happen to Pacific Rim? I can't with good conscience say no but that doesn't mean it was a bad film. Before I dig in I am setting the record straight. I liked Pacific Rim. It had everything I was looking for.

The problem was they gave me something I wasn't.

Plot

As a war between humankind and monstrous sea creatures wages on, a former pilot and a trainee are paired up to drive a seemingly obsolete special weapon in a desperate effort to save the world from the apocalypse. 

You guys have read my endless complaints that films of this nature and genre suffer from the S.O.S method. I have always argued that movies like Pacific Rim can have a balance between story and spectacle. For the first time in the history of ever. I am going to complain that this film should NOT have created that balance.

The film's opening monologue breaks down exactly what you're going to see for the next 2 plus hours. Giant monsters enter our world through a portal under the sea and to ensure the survival of the planet massive robots are created to defend us. Plain and simple. Short and sweet. So let's get ready to rumble. I could care less about anything else plot wise. Pacific Rim tries way too hard and fails at injecting some life and heart into this story. They give us character development which I normally applaud but here's the thing.

I NEVER cared about these people or their motivations.

The main cast contained some really good actors but their back stories were so uninteresting and cliche that you yearned for more Jaeger/Kaiju battles. I'm not sure why I felt this way and I don't have a solution to the problem. All I know is that it's there and the film's wallet is taking a hit as a result. At this moment as I write this review. Pacific Rim has taken in $49,168,221. That is a pitiful number when you factor in the $190 MILLION dollar budget and the countless amount of money Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures spent over promoting this film.

That in my opinion was a HUGE factor explaining the under performance of this film at the box office. It was clear that the powers that be wanted to go after Man of Steel and take over as the summer's best film. So they followed behind Superman's cape and promoted this movie with an obscene amount of trailers, TV spots, posters, billboards and cast and crew panels. It created the buzz they wanted but the film had to deliver. Man of Steel obviously accomplished that but that movie had a serious advantage.

IT'S SUPERMAN!

Pacific Rim though big in budget was a small movie that missed a golden opportunity to stay under the radar and surprise people. Thus becoming a runaway summer hit. Instead they swung for the fences and when the inadequacies of this film roared louder than any Kaij stomping through cities, you can sum up their folly with one word.

OOPS.

Swing and miss aside. Pacific Rim has no excuse for the poor character construction and presentation. This film is littered with annoying people that fall right in line with the recycled dummies of past action/sci-fi films. My gripes fall with four people.

The first is Chuck Hansen.

He was one of Stryker Eureka's pilot's he's pictured on the left.

This guy spent the majority of the film being a word class a$$ho!e. He strutted around the base with this insufferable cockiness that rubs you the wrong way right after he utters his first syllable. His character is a walking cliche. The tough guy who doesn't believe anyone can help him or be considered close to his perceived greatness. It made sense for a movie like this to have a character with this personality but this guy plays Chuck like his personality is on steroids. It too over the top to be taken seriously and more importantly it's just plain dumb. This guy is one of the few remaining people alive that can operate these Jaegers. His job is to in not so many words save the world and instead of banding together to accomplish the mission....he picks a fight.

The next two are the scientists. Geiszler and Gottlieb.

These guys were annoying. Just like Chuck, instead of combining resources and working together to devise a strategy to defeat the Kaiju, they spend the WHOLE movie arguing with each other. Disputing their theories. How they won't work. Why they won't work. It was so silly and once again nonsensical. This film takes place in a world where they are CONSTANTLY under attack. Who has time to argue? There was a moment that I really enjoyed. Marshal Pentecost is talking with Geiszler about a new discovery he found about the Kaiju and because Gottlieb doesn't agree he starts to argue with Geiszler. They get in a shouting match when Pentecost tells Gottlieb to shut up. It was such a rewarding moment because that was EXACTLY how I was feeling when I watched these two idiots piss and moan like babies.

Finally, the last guy is Hannibal Chau.

This character was completely useless. He's played by Ron Perlman who Del Toro loves. He puts him in as many of his films he can. He should have left him off the cast for this one. Chau is a Kaiju black market dealer. He harvests organs, bones, teeth, anything he can find and sells them. Who in the world would want a souvenir from a creature that just tried to kill them and who in their right mind would want to harvest the body of a creature that just tried to kill them. His character made no sense and it made the story worse.

OK. Enough about the bad. Let's talk about the good and the good is simple. The Jaegers and Kaiju were AWESOME! Everything from their designs, movements, roars, sound design and fighting. Just top notch. This is where Pacific Rim and Guillermo Del Toro shines. Like I wrote up top, the man is king of the geeks. This subject matter of monsters and robots is right up his alley being a fan of the Japanese monster movies and Manga. You can clearly see the influences all of those films and cartoons had on him and the designs of the Jaegers and Kaiju.

Del Toro also gives you an impressive amount of scale with these creatures and robots.

In this picture you can see three Jaegers. Cherno Alpha from Russia in the middle. Crimson Typhoon from China to the right and Stryker Eureka from Australia all the way in the back on the left. The all represent different countries but the one thing they have in common is their MASSIVE size. They are standing in the Pacific Ocean and their dry from the waist up.

Another cool example is here in this picture. Marshal Stacker Pentecost is standing on the thumb of Gipsy Danger, the American Jaeger. He's on the THUMB! if that doesn't send chills down your spine, nothing will.

Now that every one's sized up let's FIGHT!

If you thought the chaos and destruction in Man of Steel was something. You haven't seen anything yet. In the world this film takes place in, the Kaiju can attack at anytime so right after a battle and all of the dust settles, the cities rebuild only to have everything destroyed again. It's a twisted back and forth but you really get the sense of carnage and devastation. There is NOTHING left after a Kaiju/Jaeger fight. Those fights were so much fun to watch and they were realistic if you could call anything in this movie realistic. When the Jaeger and Kaiju fight both participants are damaged. The movie doesn't make the Jaegers invincible. They can be and are severely damaged. Even in their victories. It's as accurate a portrayal of a fight between a giant robot and monster could be.

Unfortunately, those amazing fights were not enough to save the glaring holes and un entertaining moments this film was rife with. It's too bad because I am a HUGE fan of Del Toro and his work and though this film is not one of his greatest, I placed more faith in his ability to treat us to an experience and instead it was a paint by numbers flick. I'm not going to completely put the blame on him because he didn't write the script but he came in and did a polish on it so he's not entirely off the hook.

I really liked Pacific Rim. The problem was I wanted to love it.

On the 5 star scale. Pacific Rim gets 2.5 stars with a "Go See It!" recommendation.

That's a wrap for today.

Until Next Episode...."I'll Save You A Seat!"

"D"