Introduction:
There has been buzz about a
live action Hollywood film featuring giant robots pounding on monsters since
the late 2000s. Seriously, there was talk of a live action version of Neon Genesis Evangelion, one of my
favorite (and impactful) anime series of the 1990s. The project never got out
of development hell, but when I saw ads for Pacific Rim I figured we were finally getting something along those
lines. Well, we were and we weren’t.
Summary:
The Earth is under attack.
But the invaders aren’t coming from outer space, but are traveling through a
dimensional tear in the Pacific ocean. These creatures are giant monsters who
bleed luminescent blue ooze and love destroying major cities. They are called
The Kaiju after the Japanese term for giant monster. The Earth’s military does
their best to fight against the attackers, but the cost in human lives is
massive.
Eventually the nations of
the earth band together to craft giant robotic armor called Jaegers to fight
the Kaiju and take them out. Each Jaeger is operated by two pilots who must
synch their brains in order to fight at maximum efficiently. At first the
Jaegers are effective against the invaders, but things start to escalate.
Commander Pentecost (Idris Elba) finds his Jaeger program reigned in, just as things
get critical. Does he have the right pilots and machines to stop the deadly
invasion from the Pacific Rim?
Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Burn Gorman and Ron Perlman round
out the cast.
Good Points:
- Some impressive visual effects and explosive action scenes
- Fans of classic giant robot anime from the 80s and earlier will get a kick out of this
- A good sense of fun and excitement permeates the film
Bad Points:
- The plot and characters are incredibly shallow
- All the action scenes end up looking the same stylistically
- Comic relief characters are really abrasive.
Overall:
This movie was inspired a
bit more by Michael Bay’s Tranformers
films than Neon Genesis Evangelion or
Gundam. If you go into the film
expecting mostly surface entertainment, you’ll have a good time with it. The
visuals are impressive, the robots and monsters are cool looking and have a
great weight to them. The music is kick ass and aggressive. I even think that
Rinko Kikuchi has a lot of charisma as Mako. It is a shame the script has some
painfully bad lines and just feels like it was dumbed down a little too much. A
fun summer movie, but it could have been something a bit more impressive.
Scores
(out of 5)
Visuals: 4
Sound: 5
Acting: 3
Script: 2
Music: 4
Direction: 3
Entertainment: 4
Total: 3
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I recall the very strange reviews of this movie when it hit the theaters. The major critics sounded utterly embarrassed to give it a thumbs up (the word “dumb” came up a lot), but a large majority did anyway – some of them enthusiastically. The way in which the reviews were positive actually deterred me from seeing the movie. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see a big dumb robot-monsterfest even if it was filmed well. Perhaps it is just a matter of choosing the right day to watch it, such as the day after watching “King Lear” when it might be a relief.
ReplyDeleteYeah I missed it in the theaters for the same reason. I think I had my hopes set too high, and figured I'd just get aggravated if I saw it in theaters. At home it is fun, but yeah I still think they missed out on the chance to make this a bit more interesting. If Mako had been the main character instead of the white bread bland hero, I think that would have been great. She had the most interesting backstory anyway, just build off that and you could have had a better film.
DeleteYeah, I enjoyed it for what it was, and would like a sequel. I guess the monsters are the draw. It was interesting to compare it to NGE. I saw it in a theater and enjoyed it. I'm glad I missed Kong Island in the theater though as I just wasn't that thrilled with it after watching the DVD. Have you seen Kong Island yet? Curious to your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteYeah I'm curious about the sequel too, only because I want to see if the develop the characters (especially Mako) and the rest of the world a bit more. Potential there, especially with Boyega in a key role. I have Kong Island on my list, but the reviews were so mixed on this one. I will post a review once I give it a chance.
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