Pacific Rim

"Pacific Rim" is a highly explosive, exhilarating, exuberant, energetic, and exciting hell of a ride. When I saw the trailers, I knew the action sequences would be massive in scale, but the film just blew me away because the scale was just incredibly enormous. Every action sequence in this film was just mind-blowing.

Unlike "Transformers", this movie has a real sensible plot. Giant monsters (known as Kaijus) are the extraterrestrial beings that are currently ravaging Earth. However, they don't come from above the atmosphere, instead they come from beneath us. A portal in the bottom of the ocean serves as the method of transport these Kaijus use to reach us. These Kaijus are arriving one by one, and as they do, they increase in size. They're so massive in size (I reckon they're bigger than Godzilla) and the amount of destruction they cause is just indescribable.

But the humans don't stand around doing nothing. They build their own monsters, gigantic robots known as Jaegars, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked by a neural bridge. This allows them to synchronize their movements. However, despite these mighty Jaegers, the seemingly bright future for the humans turn dim as they begin to lose the war against the Kaijus. All of this was clearly covered in the prologue, quickly but properly.

Now that seems like a basic plot, but I can tell you that there's actually more than that and the story is deeper than it looks from the outside. "Pacific Rim" provides sensible explanations for the phenomenons that occurred in the film. Now I'm not a genius or a scientist, but the explanation is logical.

The characters. Our protagonist is Raleigh Becket. He's had a bad time after his partner and older brother Yancy died in a battle against a Kaiju before. But he's recruited by Marshal Stacker Pentecost to pilot one of the four remaining Jaegers. His new partner is Mako Mori, a Japanese girl who wants to be a pilot to avenge the death of her family. Becket's and Mori's Jaeger is the American-made Gypsy Heart.

The cast behind the characters were great too. Charlie Hunnam was terrific as Raleigh. Idris Elba gave a commanding performance as Stacker. Rinko Kikuchi rocked as Mako Mori. The chemistry between Hunnam and Kikuchi was excellent too. But I have to give special credit to Ron Perlman (who previously played in del Toro's "Hellboy" films) as the black marketeer Hannibal Chau who makes a living by dealing with Kaiju organs. He has style and charisma. I also loved Burn Gorman and Charlie Day as Dr. Hermann Gottlieb and Dr. Newton Geizler, respectively. Their chemistry was absolutely perfect and these two were just amazing.

The visual effects were undoubtedly incredible. Everything was mind-blowing and the gigantic scale of the action sequences allows you to be fully immersed into the scene. And the sets were extremely magnificent and glorious. I did not feel any sense of boredom when I was watching this film. Even the drama scenes were enjoyable too. The scenes where explanations were uncovered were exciting too and the music is a prominent part of this.

Guillermo del Toro also did a great job in his directing because I gradually became supportive of the Jaegers and every time they fought, I rooted for them to win. I became immersed into the movie. Every time a Jaeger was in trouble, I was rooting for them to get back up and fight back again. I wanted them to smash the Kaijus to pieces.

"Pacific Rim" is just simply awesome. Now, it may not be for everyone, but if you love action, giant monsters, and giant robots, you'll definitely love this. Or if you're just trying to have some fun, watch this. It's got both brains and brawn.

Rating: 9/10

Final Verdict: "Pacific Rim" is an amazing and explosive ride that is plenty of fun to watch, accompanied with dazzling visuals and a coherent plot.

PACIFIC RIM is Guillermo del Toro's tribute to the kaiju and Japanese sci-fi movies of his youth; you know, the ones involving giant monsters trashing cities and huge robots sent out to protect mankind. I had an inkling he wanted to make this movie after the giant plant creature in HELLBOY 2; well, now he has.

And this is a lot of fun, a decent popcorn flick for a change and a film that's well made enough to erase memories of the disappointing TRANSFORMERS movies. It's a great Hollywood tribute to Japanese cinema, filled with all of the wonderful effects and super-sized action that you'd hope for. Del Toro is one of those directors who hasn't made a bad film yet; you can always rely on him for entertainment.

Sure, the stuff with the human characters isn't as interesting as the giant stuff. But at least we get plenty of British actors in the cast (Burn Gorman, Idris Elba, Rob Kazinsky, Charlie Hunnam) which keeps it fresh and interesting. The CGI effects are excellent, as you'd expect, and while the storyline is very predictable, that's not the point. The point is to deliver huge bouts of destructive action, and that's what del Toro does. And it's a lot of fun.

This film starts of with a monologue that explains in twenty seconds how big monsters start appearing from the sea and destroying everything. The only defence against them is to kick their heads in with massive robots. Cool! Starting so quickly out the blocks I expected this to be a fast paced action movie.

It really isn't. About every film element ever used, runs its course before the inevitable big battle. You get a fall from grace, a rivalry, a training period, a love story, forgiveness, reconciliation, etc. etc.

The battle sequences are epic, the monsters and robots are amazing, Kids especially will love them, and the action goes on and on.

The dialogue is cheesier and hammier than a 60 foot pizza monsters, and coupled with the extended scope of this film can make watching it gruelling if you are not instantly gripped.

This will keep any kids gripped for hours (nearly three of them) but if sci-fi isn't your thing get comfy and bring a pillow.

Sometimes when I sit down and watch a movie I just want to be swept away and be dazzled with both sight and sound. The movies don't have to be dramatically perfect just capable of blowing all my sensors.

Battleship and Pacific Rim are 2 of those movies.

Pacific Rim takes a cool concept for a story, Monsters vs Machines and entwines a human element (the pilots) to result in a really fun extravaganza. The movie is not deep but has enough story to piece together the fighting sequences.

Sit down, hit the lights, pump the volume, disengage brain and have a blast :)

I usually don't watch action films. They just aren't my sort of thing. However, my daughter insisted that I watch "Pacific Rim" and I was feeling absolutely horrible when I watched the film, as I had just gone through some painful surgery that morning. So, to take my mind off my aches, I gave it a try. And, thankfully, it turned out to be exactly the sort of tonic I needed--entertaining and crazy fun. While I didn't see it in the theater (the best way to see this type of movie), I did see it on a very large screen at home and watching it on a small screen is practically a waste of time. For once, I loved that a film has eye- popping visuals, explosions and action--and it manages to deliver an entertaining experience without leaving you feeling dumb for having enjoyed it--a problem too often associated with movie of this style. Well worth your time.