Review of Pacific Rim (2013) by Comic F — 27 Mar 2018

Pacific Rim was a movie that massively surprised me. Not that it was a good movie, I was surprised by the way in which they went about it. The premise alone is enough to get anyone into the cinema, big robots fight giant monsters. But it was the fact that there was a good story here, there was a history to this world and we were invited into it.

The world building of this movie is its biggest strengths. This is a world that is rich in history and have been tortured by the infamous Kaiju destroying cities. We then get the history of the Jaegers and how we fought back against them. From nuclear powered Jaegers to now the more efficient digital technology Jaegers. This limited the risk to the pilots. This history is turned into a plot point when a Kaiju releases an EMT rendering all digital Jaegers useless and defenceless. I really don't think this movie would have worked if we had been dropped in when they were creating the Jaegers. It would have been boring and the fact that they are near the end of the Jaeger program makes it an interesting watch. Trying to figure out the history of a world is more interesting than mind numbing visuals in my opinion.

Mind numbing visuals isn't meant as a negative. In some movies, *cough+ Transformers *cough*, big giant robots can become a huge CGI mess to the point where you're really not sure where one robot starts and another ends. Pacific Rim balances this close to perfection. Every punch and move isn't fluid and it shouldn't be, it's a 100ft robot punching! It should look like it takes a lot of effort. Due to the slowness and the effort put in, we are able to keep up with the fights and truly invest in it, seeing every hit and miss. All in all, this makes it more intense and more worth the watch.

Although Pacific Rim is a great movie, its weakness is its characters, specifically the main 2. Raleigh and Stacker Pentecost are your by the book hero and army general. We do get a bit of history and character to each but it doesn't really add anything to the movie. This is no fault of Charlie Hunnam and Idris Elba, both great actors, their characters are just a bit plain and normal. Looking past these 2 we do get great characters that are rememberable, specifically Charlie Day's Dr. Newton Geiszler. I feel this was something the creators realised though, as Pacific Rim 2, Raleigh and Pentecost do not return and Geiszler, along with a few others, will return. For Pacific Rim 2, it's great we are getting a fresh start.

DIAGNOSIS - MINOR SURGERY.

Some amazing visuals with Jaegers beating down Kaiju, every action set piece will put a smile on your face. The movie is let down by its main players but it really doesn't matter, we aren't here for the characters. Hopefully in Pacific Rim Uprising, we get even more!

Matt.