Ignoring the fact that the movie lost to an intelligence-numbing flick by Adam Sandler at the box office this past weekend, Pacific Rim freakin' rocked! Giant ass-kicking robots (a.k.a. Jaegers)... Giant ass-kicking monsters (a.k.a. Kaijus)... Both courtesy of Industrial Light & Magic... Oh, and Rinko Kikuchi (of 2006's Oscar-nominated flick, Babel)... Guillermo del Toro did not disappoint (at least critically and artistically) in conveying his own brand of Godzilla-type mayhem. Story-wise, Pacific Rim is no different from said Gojira film—and even borrows from Independence Day, The Matrix and of course, a boatload of Japanese anime titles to make the plot move along. Action-wise, those of you wanting to see giant robots going on a rampage and can't wait for Optimus Prime to return in next year's Transformers 4 will not be let down by the sight of Gipsy Danger, Crimson Typhoon and other Jaegers taking on the Knifehead and other Kaiju that emerged from the Pacific Ocean to wreak havoc on hapless humans living in Manila, Seattle and other coastal cities of the world. And to see these gigantic monstrosities duke it out on IMAX 3-D (which I did yesterday)? Well, that's double the icing on the cake.
As mentioned above, Industrial Light & Magic rightfully had the honor of realizing del Toro's vision of monsters vs. robots on the big screen...which was definitely the right move by the filmmaker. Sure, FX houses like Double Negative (which worked on The Dark Knight trilogy), Weta Digital (founded by Peter Jackson to work on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, as well as District 9 and Iron Man 3) and Digital Domain (which worked on Apollo 13, Titanic and Oblivion) have all created awesome visuals for major Hollywood hits over the past decade or so, but it's only fitting that the company that started it all (by George Lucas to work on Star Wars) would be the one responsible for making sure that Pacific Rim looked as exciting at the cinemas as possible. Music-wise, the film score was awesome. Ramin Djawadi, who composed the music for 2008's Iron Man as well as such successful TV shows as Game of Thrones and Prison Break, created an action-packed tune that also paid homage to the music of classic monster flicks. (Case in point: The percussive beat that plays when the 'Category 5' Kaiju emerges from the breach at the bottom of the Pacific in the movie's climax.) Djawadi's music didn't blow me away as much as Steve Jablonsky's work on the first Transformers film did six years ago, but I'll definitely download or buy Pacific Rim's score on CD in the near future.
Acting-wise, I didn't notice any performance that was even remotely worthy of being considered for an Oscar nomination next year. Which is pretty much why some critics call Pacific Rim the 'Star Wars for a new generation' (which, amusingly, was what Independence Day was called back in 1996)... Mind-blowing special effects, a great music score and—wooden acting. Idris Elba was respectable as former Jaeger pilot Stacker Pentecost, Charlie Hunnam was to Pacific Rim what Casper Van Dien was to 1997's Starship Troopers, Charlie Day was the same goofball (a compliment) that he was in 2011's Horrible Bosses, Burn Gorman was a lot wackier in this movie than he was as one of Bane's lackeys in The Dark Knight Rises, and Ron Perlman was cool as Kaiju black market dealer Hannibal Chau. Last, but most definitely not least, is Rinko Kikuchi as Mako Mori. Despite the fact that Pacific Rim is yet another Hollywood film that pervades the whole White Guy/Asian Girl romance bit, Kikuchi was great as the Gipsy co-pilot of Charlie Hunnam. And just as awesome as seeing 300-foot-tall (most likely bigger than that) robots battling 2,500-ton monsters is watching Kikuchi take on Hunnam in that entertaining Kendo fight scene. Is it a surprise that Kikuchi would know martial arts in real life? Um, no. Is it still a pleasure to see a beautiful actress show that she has some nice combat skills to display on the big screen? Definitely.
All-in-all, here's hoping that Pacific Rim will end up being a financial success this summer. Most definitely, it should become a cult classic the same way that Starship Troopers and Blade Runner did before it. Guillermo del Toro is a pro when it comes to creating fanciful creatures and monsters on the big screen...with the ability to effortlessly depict huge brawling robots added to his resume. Considering the fact that Sandler's Grown Ups managed to get its own stinkin' sequel, it would be an injustice if the Jaegers (and Mako Mori) don't return to the big screen again to rid this world of giant leviathans who emerge from the depths of the ocean to threaten all of humanity. Pacific Rim is the most visually-spectacular movie of this summer...and it should be rewarded as such with its story continuing for a sequel or two. If Grown Ups 2, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions can be made, then so can Pacific Rim 2. That is all.
PACIFIC RIM Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars. ****1/2
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