Pacific Rim is a 2013 sci-fi monster flick directed by Guillermo del Toro. It’s about a bunch of gigantic alien monsters called Kaijus attacking Earth. Earth’s only chance for survival is to build a bunch of giant robots called Jaegers to fight the Kaijus. Each Jaeger is piloted by two soldiers because reasons. Charlie Hunnam stars at Raleigh Becket, a former Jaeger pilot who comes out of retirement to fight more Kaijus. Idris Elba plays Stacker Pentecost, a former Jaeger pilot who now runs the program. The other main character is a hot Japanese chick named Mako Mori (played by Rinko Kikuchi) who can’t speak much English, but she sure is fun to look at. Her family was killed in a Kaiju attack, and she was rescued by Pentecost when he was still a Jaeger pilot. Raleigh and Mako team up to pilot a Jaeger against the wishes of Pentecost, but they are drift compatible so he has no choice but to let them work together.
I only mentioned the plot because there actually is one. It’s not just a bunch of chaotic fight scenes involving giant robots battling giant monsters and toppling buildings. It’s not Transformers. It’s what you wanted Transformers to be. The fight scenes are epic and awesome. You really get a sense of scale and you feel like there is something at stake. Guillermo del Toro knows how to frame shots so you actually know what is going on and you can follow the action. My biggest beef with the film is that the climax takes place in the ocean instead of in a city. I wanted to see more buildings toppling and citizens screaming and running for their lives. But the ending is still awesome. It’s one of the best monster movies of all time. It’s not a great film, it’s a great blockbuster.
Critically Rated at 14/17
Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young
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