Pacific Rim

Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Burn Gorman, Max Martini, Clifton Collins Jr., Ron Perlman
Directed by: Guillermo Del Toro
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
2013

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: To fight monstrous creatures from another dimension, Earth creates giant robots called Jaegers to fight back.

Review:

Tim: Coming into 2013, Pacific Rim was, without question, my most anticipated film. I trusted Guillermo Del Toro to deliver an action-packed, incredible action sci-fi film. You have a guy with great passion bringing together a story about giant robots fighting giant monsters. This is the film the twelve-year-old in every one of us should have loved. I couldn't wait to see this film, and I really believed it had a shot at being of the best films of 2013. And what we got instead was a good but severely flawed film. I would say that I liked Pacific Rim, but even that wasn't a sure thing.

The reason you go to a film like this is obviously to see giant robots and giant monsters duking it out. However, that can't be the only reason. For too much time and energy were spent on those scenes- the human element seems to have been completely forgotten. This singular focus paid off for those battle scenes- they're very often incredible. I loved, loved, loved seeing the robots verses monsters battles. They were so cool, so exciting, and the special effects were just jaw-dropping. Del Toro did a fantastic job of bringing these action sequences to life. The only problem I had with them is that almost every scene takes place either at night or underwater. What? Why was this so? The Jaegers looked so incredible, and yet we were saddled with almost all dark night fight scenes. I wanted to see these robots in all their glory, and I was pretty disappointed that we didn't get some clear, sunny fights. This was a big mistake. As cool as the battles were, as much as I loved them, it was still tinted with a bit of disappointment.

The human elements, however, were almost all bad. Guillermo Del Toro assembled a cast that looked really good, although none are truly great actors. Giving them some laughable, cringe-worthy dialogue just made them look awful. I knew nothing about Charlie Hunnam before watching this film, and the only thin I know now is that he's not a very good actor. From the very first moment he appears on screen, I cringed. He was trying way too hard and never felt believable. For me, he really sunk the movie. His performance wasn't realistic or especially likeable. He just came across as an inexperienced actor in way over his head- he did not have the talent or ability to carry a movie like this. I never believed him and I never felt any emotional connection to his character. That's really bad. Now, I like Idris Elba, and I think he has real talent as an actor, but his role was so one-dimensional that he just came across looking silly. Some of things he uttered made he bite my lips because it was so awkward. I know this film is the fantasy of twelve year-old boys, but I wish it didn't feel like preteens wrote the script, too. Rinko Kikuchi has some talent, but it's really hard to see here. Charlie Day was awful. I wanted to slap him and make him look "restraint" up in the dictionary. His buffoonish performance was pathetic. Ron Perlman didn't need to be in this film and his stupid role got way too much screen time. Here's the problem with the cast- they had some talent and some good moments, but Del Toro was never in command of his cast. I don't know what his vision for the human side of this story was, but it was extremely flawed.

Now, this is all a shame, because there's some incredibly innovative, exciting ideas in this film. Giant alien monsters come not from the stars, but from an interdimensional rift deep beneath the Pacific ocean. That's awesome. Each of the Kaiju (what an awesome name!) are different. That means every battle is new and exciting- what powers does this Kaiju have? The whole thing drips of coolness. To fight the Kaiju, humanity develops these giant badass robots called Jaegers (again, super cool). The Jaegers are all different and piloted by two pilots, who are connected cognitively as they "drift" together. That's really cool. Even the names of the Jaegers (i.e., Gypsy Danger) give me geek shivers. This could have been the coolest movie ever. And yet, the flaws really bring it down.

Look, I still enjoyed Pacific Rim. This is a fun popcorn movie and more of these movies need to be made. I love the originality of the film and the fact that it wasn't a typical superhero summer blockbuster. We need more different movies out of Hollywood. The robot battles were incredible, and the special effects were mind-blowing. I love so much about this movie. Unfortunately, the human elements are ridiculously weak. The character pieces felt like they were written by a preteen. The dialogue was really bad. I wanted this movie to be among the best of 2013. Instead, I got a pretty good movie. That's horribly disappointing.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



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