Review of Pacific Rim (2013) by Dan F — 04 Jan 2015

There is a grander universe hinted at here; a richness of ideas and design. The concept is simple- big monsters threaten the world, mankind makes big robots to fight them. Del Toro channels that concept straight from Japanese Kaiju movies, even calling his monsters Kaiju, and further reinforcing it with complex science fiction concepts that are more about being a cool idea than logical (any Toho fans can relate to that conceit).

It's very affectionate, but not alienating; it functions as a grand summer spectacle, for most ages. Like Hellboy, it is resplendent in characterisation, there's a lot of care for them and it's a further testament to Del Toro as a storyteller that the ensemble works and feels vital on all counts.

The robots are wonderful- clearer and more refined, perhaps even flawed, than Transformers, making the action easier to follow. As for the action, it's clumsy, brutal wrestling with what feels like improvisation rather than choreography- a naturalism difficult to achieve.

The monsters are enormous and very, very alien- far removed from men in suits but still very natural in their movement. It's long, engrossing, fun and even funny and essentially a great quality blockbuster.

It's not Del Toro's finest, but nobody expected another Pan's Labyrinth. Of course, you could unpick the whole thing, asking why build giant robots when you could just drop a bomb, but this, like its inspiration, is not in a world of why- it is a world of giant robots, fuck yeah.