Pacific Rim: The Black

As a massive fan of Guillermo Del Toro's first Pacific Rim who was then let down by the disappointing sequel Pacific Rim Uprising, I quite enjoyed The Black. It is a solid step back into the world of Pacific Rim.

The Black is refreshingly told from a civilian's perspective. So far, we have only seen stories from the military's perspective. The writers do keep the stakes high and the characters consistently disadvantaged to keep the story interesting. Civilians simply do not have the same resources as the military and that naturally freshens things up story-wise. The situation feels less Top Gun and much more Mad Max with a touch of A Quiet Place. The dramatic moments the characters spent out of the Jaegar were equally enjoyable as when they were piloting the Jaegar brawling with the Kaiju.

Taylor and Hayley, the main characters, are teenagers and are angsty. Normally that would be annoying. However, the writers rightfully take advantage of this by having them convincingly make mistakes as any teenager would in these overwhelmingly epic situations, which have real consequences. Even though it is about giant robot fighting giant monsters, the overall approach in how the story deals with its character is realistic and grounded.

What's gone from Pacific Rim: The Black is the sensation of scale. What was fascinating and mindblowing about seeing the first Pacific Rim in theaters was Guillermo Del Toro's sheer commitment to selling how hulkingly huge the Jaegars and the Kaiju were in every frame. It was nail-biting how slow the Jaegars moved and you could feel every gear inside the Jaegar straining to make it through the fight. Every punch mattered. Every punch that landed felt like a World Cup championship victory.

This sense of scale was completely missing in the disappointing sequel Pacific Rim Uprising and it comes and goes throughout The Black, where the Jaegars occasionally move with the dexterity of Olympic gymnasts, but in other moments, that sense of scale and weight is there and that sense of awe comes back, even if it's half the time. I wish this was more consistent throughout the show. There's real cinematic magic when that works and it just raises all the hairs on my arms.

My quibbles aside, the fights are still pretty darn fun. They are well choreographed and rightfully build on details from the Pacific Rim films. There are some exhilarating action moments that will make fans cheer. I particularly enjoyed how the writers further explore the Drift and like the first Pacific Rim, uses it effectively as a story device to develop the relationships between the Jaegar pilots and intensifies the battles.

The first season for The Black does end abruptly, as if a producer came in andlopped off half of the show with a machete and deemed a mid-season cliffhanger as the new shortened season finale. When it happened, it had me doing a triple take going, "Wait, what? That was over?"

Regardless, I do intend to watch the second season to see what happens. The show was better than expected and it did win me over.

Overall, I'd recommend The Black to Pacific Rim fans. Fans who enjoyed the first film and was let down by the second and still have unfinished business in this universe are keen to enjoy this show.

This series is an intriguing attempt to find the sublime in the ridiculous. What we have to remember is that Pacific Rim was, by design, frivolous and almost a self-parody. It was a knowing wink at the ludicrousness of kaiju and the fancruft that have grown around them, with "no alloys" and "50 diesel engines per muscle strand" as standout lines signalling that everyone involved was revelling in subverting and almost-but-not-quite mocking the source material.

The Black plays it all far more seriously, trying to show the consequences for squishy humanity of the "kaijufication" of earth - or more specifically, Australia, but best not to dwell on that detail, given that most of the voice talent are resolutely North American. There's loss and tragedy, there are merely elephantine kaiju-hounds to give a human sized threat, there's genetic experimentation, there are Jaegers that aren't quite Jaegers: all sorts of ideas that are well worn tropes in themselves, but fresh to this milieu.

The animation is entirely CGI, there's not a hand-drawn cell to be seen. It's very well done though, at least for the human characters. Surprisingly, it's not so great for the kaiju and Jaegers, which are fairly generic grey-and-blue vs grey-and-red over-shadowed blobs, with little sense of size or mass to them.

What really shines through is that the lead voice acting is outstanding, and for once they're given half decent lines to deliver and they're not phoning it in. Gideon Adlon does a compelling turn as Haley, bringing an appealing warmth, range, depth and emotion to the role. Erica Lindbeck also plays it pitch perfect as a passive-aggressivly sardonic training AI, introducing just the right amount of levity. Calum Worthy is the straight-man, and given a bit less to work with, but he takes a damn good swing at what he's given. This is highlighted by contrast with the cast extras, who turn in fairly generic anime performances.

The pacing is also a strong point, with decent story arcs and few flat spots. You won't find much Japanimation budget-stretching scenes here of composed of 2 minute still frames with trembling eyes and meaningless ejaculations of "Oh! Ah!". It's all dialogue here, lads. The score and foley are also well done, adding to rather than distracting from the animation and voice talent.

I'll be honest, I was ready to dislike this, but it won me over. It's a bold and well realized series with its own strong vision, and it delivers it competently and confidently. Definitely worth a try.

I almost didn't watch this because I have found most Netflix Anime disappointing. However, I am really glad that I did. This is what the second movie should have been! The anime is good, and obviously anime-ish with many of the standard tropes. Also, I grew up on Robotech in the eighties, watching the anime and reading all of the books. This reminds me of what I remember Robotech being (I went back and tried to re-watch it a few years ago and it disappointed). There is a good balance of mech vs monster, character development, and plot advancement. Well done and I am looking forward to season 2.

This was just so unexpectedly great. I expected some cheap cash-in filled with me typical anime teenage angst. Instead I got very measuredly written characters, with a pretty interesting premise and story

Perfect for a binge on any free evening. These western anime projects Netflix has done like Castlevania, The Dragon Prince, Blood of Zeus and now Pacific Rim The Black. More like Pacific Rim is back!!

This show was an unexpected surprise and the trailers and promotional material do it a great disservice. I was expecting something average, maybe a 6 out of 10 but I am glad to say this show is much more nuanced than I know most will give it credit for. And certainly more thought and effort into making it good than the atrocity that was Uprising.

But what was even more unique is that there isn't as much Kaiju fighting as I would've expected which is actually not a con against it as the story it chooses to tell is very much a character one. And I am glad the writers weren't lazy and took the extra mile to actually flesh out these characters properly to the point you really care if something bad happens to them.

Another aspect I really appreciate is that it doesn't ignore the existence of the previous entry Uprising. It demonstrates that Uprising had potential great concepts but this time they'll actually use it. While it doesn't mean Uprising is any better it at the very least justifies it's existence in the lore and expands upon it in many creative ways I did not see coming.

In a way it's kind of like what the Clone Wars show was to the prequels.