REVIEW: Pacific Rim

Pacific Rim

Director: Guillmero Del Toro
Written By: Travis Beacham & Guillermo Del Toro

Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Idris Elba, Ron Perlman, Charlie Day

Running Time: 112 Minutes

BBFC Rating: 12A

As impressive a landmark for both blockbusters and comic book movies The Dark Knight was, it could be argued that the aftermath of its success has damaged the summer season of megabudget movies. Suddenly being dark and edgy was the new in thing, and the big stupid action flicks were beginning to feel like a thing of the past. Even this year, big hitters like Iron Man 3, Star Trek Into Darkness and Man of Steel have all attempted to 'do a Batman' to varying degrees of success. Thank the heavens then, that Guillermo Del Toro has arrived with one massively fun antidote to all the doom and gloom in the shape of Pacific Rim. Cheesy dialogue, cartoonish dialogue with jaw droppingly huge setpieces throughout? I don't know about you, but this is the kind of blockbuster I've been craving for all year.

Pacific Rim opens with a short and to the point introduction of what's going on in the world. About 15 years previous to where our story begins, our planet is invaded by a huge monster (called a Kaiju) that comes out of a portal from deep within the Pacific Ocean. As the months go by and more Kaijus come out of the portal, each leading a more destructive path than the last, the world's greatest minds come together out of desperation and develop the idea of huge human-piloted robots called Jaegers to combat the threat. Fast forward 15 years, and we centre in on Jaeger pilot Raleigh Becket as the worlds forces prepare for one final assault on the portal in the hope of eliminating the Kaiju threat once and for all. Of course, there's a lot more than that going on around the characters but I'll try to keep this review as spoiler free as possible.

Guillmero Del Toro has always been very upfront about this being his own personal passion project more than anything, and it really shows throughout. You can feel that this is a film made by someone who truly loves the source material (various monster movies and Saturday morning cartoons he grew up on), and is dying to share that love with the new generation of cinema-goers. These aren't the standard glossy robots you've seen in movies previously over the years, which move more like ballet dancers than they do giant metal monsters. Every little detail of the Jaegers has been thought and argued over to a truly meticulous level, their movements slow and heavy as a creation of that size should be. The same can be said of the Kaiju, who vary in design with each feeling like a completely individual creation compared to any of the others. The designs of each is so spectacular, that I was desperate to seek out any books detailing the art and making of this film as soon as I'd left the cinema.

But even designs as fantastic as these wouldn't save the film if the fights between the Jeagers and Kaiju weren't up to scratch, but fear not, because Del Toro has without doubt delivered the finest setpieces of the summer. When these two different types of titan start to duke it out in the middle of the ocean, there are few things more satisfying to watch. You can feel and hear every blow landed, and thanks to the various tricks saved up each Jaeger and Kaiju's sleeve, no battle plays out the same as the last. But the without a doubt highlight of the film, and with that the summer, is the battle that takes place within Hong Kong. The landscape of a densely populated city is used in imaginative and incredibly eye-pleasing ways, such as a massive container ship being wielded by a Jeager as if it were a baseball bat. It might still be a little bit destruction happy for some peoples tastes, but it at least beat having two practically invincible guys punching each other through buildings for 40 minutes. Yes, I'm talking about you, Man Of Steel!

There's certainly going to be a divide in audience reaction to this one, and one of the main causes of that will be how the characters are treated. While most have their own backstories and personal problems to overcome, none of it is very imaginative or particularly indepth. I personally never found this to be a problem, as I went in believing the robots and monsters to be the stars of the show. In fact, the cheesy dialogue actually made it all the more enjoyable for me as it only contributed towards my dream of this being the kind of cartoon I would have watched as a kid, only on $200m budget. But if you're going into this hoping for a strong human-led story, or even a charismatic leading man (Charlie Hunnam never quite manages to tick that box), then you're probably going to walk out feeling pretty disappointed.

For me personally, my biggest issue was that by skipping forward 15 years after the first Kaiju attack there aren't many Jaegers left by the time we join the narrative. Having heard about some of the other designs that never made it into the film, I do feel a little disappointed that we didn't get a better glimpse of some of the more outlandish Jeager designs. But then, Del Toro has designed this in the hopes of expanding on the universe later on so maybe they will get the spotlight they deserve in a prequel someday. But these are only minor gripes against a film that has managed to capture my spectacle-loving heart like no other film has since The Avengers last year. It's a masterful love letter to all that is wonderful about big cinema, and even if it does seem to be unfortunately doomed for financial failure, its cult status seems to be guaranteed already.

The Final Verdict:

With films as fun as this being few and far between, I couldn't recommend enough that you catch this at the cinema while you still can. Honestly, this film demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible!