Pacific Rim

As the summer movie season surges on, we continue to be bomb-barded, quite literally in this case, by more and more high-adrenaline, high-budget, high explosive films to pacify those single young guys out there. With more of these films coming, we have a chance to experience a film with colossal imagery, and amazing effects titled "Pacific Rim".

When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising  from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity's resources for years on end.To combat the giant Kaiji, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neutral bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiji. On the verge of defeat, Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba) of the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to unlikely heroes-- a washed up former pilot, Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee, Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi)-- who are teamed up to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind's last hope against the mounting acocalyse.

Others to round out the cast are Diego Klattenhoff as Yancy Becket, Raleigh's brother, Charlie Day as Dr. Newton Geiszler, Burn Gorman as Gottlieb, Max Martini as Herc Hansen, Robert Kazinsky as Chuck Hansen, Herc's son, Clifton Collins Jr. as Ops Tendo Choi, Ron Perlman as Hannibal Chau, Brad William Henke as Construction Foreman, Larry Joe Campbell as Construction Worker, Mana Ashida as Young Mako, Santiago Segura as Wizened Man, and Joe Pingue as Captain Merrit.

This was effectively directed by the comparable Guillermo del Toro ("Cronos" '93, "Mimic" '97, "The Devil's Backbone" '01, "Blade II" '02, "Hellboy" '04, "Pan's Labyrinth" '06, "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" '08). The one element that this guy has going for him is he brings a certain darkness to his films i.e. "Pan's Labyrinth". This just makes his films that much more gritty and original. It was written by Travis Beacham and Guillermo del Toro based on a story by Beacham. I know this type of film wasn't made to have a taught script, but I have to say that this script definitely has a hokey side to it. It is drippingly patriotic with dialogue that is nothing original. Clearly where this film excels is the visual effects predominantly created by ILM (Industrial, Light & Magic). The CGI and miniatures were seamless. This, with the 3D process, and you have a visual feast.

Visually, this film gives a one, two punch that, with the 3D, will give you quite the ride. As long as you're not looking for an involved script, this roller coaster ride will give you plenty enough bang for your buck.

Out of 4 Stars: 2.5                       Rated: PG-13                        131mins.