Pacific Rim

So sorry for the long delay. Out of muse, procrastinating, work, and other stuff prevented me from posting.

These days, I work as a cashier at a Best Buy. Thanks to working there and checking people out, I can find out what kind of trends there have been in recent purchases. A month or so ago, a movie called Pacific Rim came out on DVD. I didn't watch it in theaters - I was in China at the time - but my dad got it on xfinity and we both watched it. 

You can't deny that this looks epic.

I'll be honest with you, when I first heard the premise of Pacific Rim, I just thought 'classic B-rated Hollywood movie'. And by that, I mean little plot, forgettable characters, high-flying unrealistic action. Which was alright, I guess, but it just wasn't that appealing to me these days. But the customers who bought it told me that it was actually surprisingly good. I figured, what the heck. I might as well see what the big deal is. I was proven wrong... in a good way.

Pacific Rim, directed by Guerillo del Toro, has a simple premise: Giant monsters called Kaiju (yeah, the same label given to Japanese giant creatures like Godzilla) have appeared from the Pacific Ocean via a rift in dimensions. They come in, they trash cities, we try to take them down using conventional means and fail miserably. The counter plan for these things are the Jaegers (German for 'hunter'), which are giant mechanical suits several hundred feet tall, designed explicitly to combat the Kaijus. So it's a giant slugfest between giant monsters that look like something out of a mix-and-match toy and oversized action figures, with the humans trying desperately to find a way to plug the hole to the monster world.

And this scene comes in within the first 10 minutes or so.

So with that premise, you'd just watch this for giant robots slugging giant monsters, right? Well... I won't deny that's basically what the whole movie's about. But there's a surprising amount of social connotations within the movie. With the giant monsters, there's also some mentions on dealing with their toxic blood, which renders cities uninhabitable. Also, the Jaegers are REALLY expensive, so it's not that surprising that the politicians abandon Jaegers in the prologue when the Kaiju are tearing them faster than they can build them. Also, people worship these massive Kaiju, which isn't all that surprising considering their size, strength, and ferocity, and there's a thriving black market for parts of these beasts. One guy even says that a small piece of Kaiju crap (I'm not joking here) contains enough phosphorus to fertilize and entire field!

Meet Knifehead. Guess how he got his name. Go on, guess.

Aside from that, the characters aren't too bad. Marshal Stacker Pentecost, played by Idris Elba, is easily the most interesting character in the movie. Not only does he play a commander well, he also gives off an aura of command that few people can match. One could tell that he often struggles between being a good commander and being a good human - and yes, it's visible, not just subtle things only snobby-snobs can pick up (*cough*). Mako Mori, played by Rinko Kikuchi, is not just your typical Hollywood love interest / babe. She has a surprising amount of depth, especially when you learn about her rather traumatic backstory. The interactions between Pentecost and Mori easily make the more emotional parts of this otherwise testosterone-stuffed film. 

On the other hand, the movie does suffer from weak characters - especially the main character, Raleigh Becket. Becket is a very flat character. Okay, we saw him lose his brother and it still somewhat haunts him, but that's about it. It doesn't bother him for the rest of the film except for the occasional mention. There was only one time that it was actually semi-important, and that moment was only used for triggering Mori's story. Otherwise, he's almost your typical action hero who can fight really good and is pragmatic... and that's it. There are other pilots and Jaegers introduced, and although they've been played up as some of the best of the best, they're ripped to pieces not fifteen minutes later. I understand that the movie was already long/large enough as is, but couldn't we see these metal titans live up to their reputation for a bit?

The Crimson Typhoon. Looks awesome, right? Too bad you won't see much of him.

Now then, as for the visuals.... it looks simply wonderful. Not only the designs of the Kaiju and Jaegers, but the animation. The Jaegers do move like humans, but their movements are very inorganic, befitting giant metallic suits that is run entirely by machinery and two human brains. The Kaiju's movements are much like intelligent hunters - fast, brutal, pragmatic, strong. If you're used to just random clashing or biting from the Kaiju, well, think again. When the humans say that the Kaiju are adapting, the movie shows that they mean it. The Kaiju do what they can, when they can to bring the Jaegers down. They'll use every trick up their arsenal and then some... and it's brutally successful. So what does this mean for the movie? Well, in most action movies, we know the heroes are gonna be okay. Throw a couple thousand bullets at them, they'll get right back up. Here, both sides are playing for keeps. You can see it and feel it, lending a huge amount of tension that is absent in a lot of action movies.

The Slattern. All the other Kaiju are jokes. This guy's the punchline.

So in the end, what's my opinion of it? Well, if you're looking for a great action flick that also has a surprisingly good amount of storytelling, both overt and subtle, you're looking in the right place. If you're looking for something really deep, well, you might want to go someplace else. But then, to reiterate: It's GIANT ROBOTS FIGHTING GIANT MONSTERS. What's not to like about it?! So yeah, highly recommend this movie.

Once more, thanks for reading and putting up with the delay!