Pacific Rim

PACIFIC RIM

Director : Guillermo Del Toro

Year : 2013

Genre : Science Fiction

Rating : ***1/2

Since the first trailer for 'Pacific Rim' erupted onto our cinema screens over 4 months ago, I have been inundated with comments about my supposed preconceptions about the movie. Knowing of my hatred of the 'Transformers' franchise, many have expected me to loathe this film just as much I loathe the output of Michael Bay. However, what they didn't take into account is my love for director Guillermo Del Toro, the Gaudalajaran director whose work has certainly contributed some vertebrae towards the backbone of my love for cinema. To mention Del Toro in the same sentence as Bay is a crime and while 'Pacific Rim' and 'Transformers' may appear to contain the same basic ideas, they could not be more different; either in tone or execution.

Set in an apocalyptic future, 'Pacific Rim' traces a time where alien monsters are entering our planet through an anomaly deep under the Pacific Ocean. Intent on destruction and death to humanity, the monsters called Kaiju begin to obliterate entire coastline cities and cause indescribable damage. To battle these seemingly unstoppable creatures, we have devised immense robots called Jaegers which are powerful enough and strong enough to kill the monstrous Kaiju. Due to the machines gigantic size, 2 people have to pilot a Jaeger and to completely gain control of the robot, the pilots must form a neural link which combines the hemispheres of their brain together and allows the 2 humans to work in unison together. These battles can last for hours and can prove to be deadly to both the Kaiju and the Jaeger operators. As the human death toll rises and the Kaiju begin to take control, it is up to a small band of people led by general Stacker Pentecost (played by Idris Elba) to defeat the monsters and save humanity from inevitable extinction.

From 'Pans Labyrinth' to 'Cronos', 'The Devils Backbone' to 'Hellboy', Guillermo Del Toro has created some of the most impressive and awe inspiring works in modern cinema and to this day, he is regarded as one of the best fantasy directors who has ever worked behind the camera. While 'Pacific Rim' lacks the depth or social commentary of a film such as 'Cronos' or 'Pans Labyrinth', Del Toro certainly brings an unprecedented amount of astonishing special effects and imagination to the screen. Utilising the most impressive CG graphics I have seen all year and combining them with an evocative and engaging narrative, Del Toro shows us that movies about giant monsters and robots hitting each other can be fun and incredibly entertaining, rather than headache inducing set pieces of indescribable chunks of metal flying around aimlessly. Giving each Jeagar and Kaiju a distinctive look and design, Del Toro allows us to distinguish what is going on on screen and this makes for heart racing action scenes and moments of breath-taking awe.

The design of the monsters themselves are absolutely brilliant and the imagination that has gone into the look and size of the Kaiju is really something to behold. Clearly taking it's influence from the Japanese monster movies, 'Pacific Rim' is everything that the 1997 'Godzilla' should have been and I am sure that Roland Emmerich is kicking himself as I write this. Using low camera angles and wide shots to great effect, Del Toro easily manages to create a sense of size and scale unprecented in cinema. Combining the astonishing visuals with a booming soundtrack, a brilliant use of sound effects and a foreboding air of doom and annihilation, 'Pacific Rim' is the most entertaining, if not the loudest blockbuster of the summer.

While there are one too many fight scenes for my liking, I was nonetheless glued to my seat for a large majority of the action set pieces. Giving each leviathan a specific power and advantage, Del Toro creates an air of uneasiness and impending doom when each monstrous kaiju appears and with the help of Ramin Djawadi's thunderous score, he is able to bring the audience right into the forefront of the action. Combining long shots with intrusive close ups, the directors swing us back and forth between the fighting, giving us the impression of a bird flying amidst the blood-strewn battle. Sometimes we see the Kaiju and Jeager fighting from a distance and at other times we are five feet away from the monsters mouth or Jaeger's colossal fist. It's a very visceral viewing experience from start to finish and for those going into 'Pacific Rim' for pure spectacle will not be disappointed.

Unfortunately, while the special effects and direction are second to none, the characterisations and story arcs are completely average. Most of the characters are stereotypes and it is very easy to plot the various narrative arcs that each will inevitably face. Idris Elba is fine as the domineering general, but much of his dialogue is pretty bad and as with many of Guillermo Del Toro's English language movies, the screenplay is always the worst thing about the film. Much of Elba's lines are speechified to the point of parody and some of his dialogue reminded me of the ultra-cheesy central speech in 'Independence Day'. The rest of the cast are nothing special;  Charles Hunnam is the Jaeger pilot who is determined to avenge his brothers death, Rinko Kikuchi is the plucky wannabe Jaeger pilot who feels that she has something to prove and Charlie Day and Burn Gorman are the 2 eccentric and rather annoying scientists who work on the bodies of dead Kaiju and who will inevitably find the answers to the upcoming apocalypse. As with nearly every other Guillermo Del Toro movie, Ron Perlman makes an appearance, here playing a narratively pointless gangster who leads the black market in Kaiju body parts. All are fine here, Elba especially does some good work as the forthright if not ridiculously named Pentecost. However, none of the actors are given any interesting dialogue and the various character arcs are pretty standard action fare.

If the script, characterisations and overall narrative had matched the level of expertise of the special effects, 'Pacific Rim' would have been one of my favourite movies of the year. As it stands, its only one of my favourite movies of the Summer. It proves that we don't have to put up with the work of Hollywood hacks and if imagination, vision and direction are put to great use, art can be created from the most unlikely of sources. Of course, the movie will not be for everyone and those who are not fans of anime, monster movies or science fiction will find very little here to change their minds. For me however, while it is far from Guillermo Del Toro's best film, 'Pacific Rim' is an ambitious attempt to bring a seemingly dead subgenre back to the screen and for the most part, he has succeeded fantastically well.