Pacific Rim was my most anticipated summer movie. I was so gung-ho for it since catching the teaser trailer last winter. Giant robots versus kaiju? Sign me up. I'm there.
Now it's in theatres as we speak, but will it live up to the build up?
HELL YEAH!
Pacific Rim is about monsters from space attacking earth. In the beginning, these monster, or kaiju -- from the Japanese 'strange beast' -- were tough to put down. Yet, earthlings fought back forming a Pan Pacific Defense Corps composed of giant robots, or jeagers -- from the German 'hunters.' They beat back these monsters, but after awhile the monsters evolve and gain the upper hand. This forces the shutdown of the PPDC and the earthlings to build giant walls to keep the monsters at bay. In a last desperate attempt, the few remaining jaegers are thrown into the Breach to shut down the monster portal. It's a plot out of an anime!
If you compare Pacific Rim to an anime, you'll find it wanting. When you have 13-26 episodes (6-12 hours), you can fill it with characterization. You can make your characters, troubled high school kids who also must save the world. With a movie of 2+ hours, you're left with shallow characterizations summed up in cliché: the father son team, the washed up pilot and the newbie. There's no characterization, but these labels. The characters are defined by them and they live up to them.
But what you want in a movie with giant mecha and kaiju? Big, loud battles! You get them. And more. If you ever wondered what a Voltron slash would look like, it's here. If you ever wanted to see the missiles released from giant mecha, it's here. Pacific Rim lives up to it's billing in the fights. That's what we want, it's what we get. Satisfying.
I won't let the shallow characters ruin it. After all, for 2 hours with tons of mecha versus kaiju battles, I would rather see that than the characters. Let television and anime have it. Just give me giant robots!
4 of 5 stars.
Now it's in theatres as we speak, but will it live up to the build up?
HELL YEAH!
Pacific Rim is about monsters from space attacking earth. In the beginning, these monster, or kaiju -- from the Japanese 'strange beast' -- were tough to put down. Yet, earthlings fought back forming a Pan Pacific Defense Corps composed of giant robots, or jeagers -- from the German 'hunters.' They beat back these monsters, but after awhile the monsters evolve and gain the upper hand. This forces the shutdown of the PPDC and the earthlings to build giant walls to keep the monsters at bay. In a last desperate attempt, the few remaining jaegers are thrown into the Breach to shut down the monster portal. It's a plot out of an anime!
If you compare Pacific Rim to an anime, you'll find it wanting. When you have 13-26 episodes (6-12 hours), you can fill it with characterization. You can make your characters, troubled high school kids who also must save the world. With a movie of 2+ hours, you're left with shallow characterizations summed up in cliché: the father son team, the washed up pilot and the newbie. There's no characterization, but these labels. The characters are defined by them and they live up to them.
But what you want in a movie with giant mecha and kaiju? Big, loud battles! You get them. And more. If you ever wondered what a Voltron slash would look like, it's here. If you ever wanted to see the missiles released from giant mecha, it's here. Pacific Rim lives up to it's billing in the fights. That's what we want, it's what we get. Satisfying.
I won't let the shallow characters ruin it. After all, for 2 hours with tons of mecha versus kaiju battles, I would rather see that than the characters. Let television and anime have it. Just give me giant robots!
4 of 5 stars.