I grew up in the era of 1966 Ultraman reruns. Every week I got to see if Shin Hayata would be able to pull his beta capsule in time to defeat the monster dujour that was stomping Tokyo. He did, but as he transformed into Ultraman, his strength would only last 3 minutes in Earth's atmosphere, and the warning light on his chest would begin to blink. If he didn't win, or jet away in 3 minutes, Ultraman "would never rise again!" It was perfect cheese. We loved it.
Enter Pacific Rim (2013). My son Luke had seen it, and said he thought I would like it. No you have to understand the dynamic in my family: my wife and I, and all three adult kids, are writers. And most of the time when we get together (unless the kids' spouses are on saturation with our discussions), we discuss films, TV shows and books. Not just films TV and books- we discuss the writing, the pacing, the casting, did this or that work, did it not. For hours. So when son Luke says "I think you'll like it", it's not a throw away comment.
The film starts off introducing us to the defense force created to fight the ever-increasing threat of giant monsters coming from an undersea chasm. The assault forces drive giant mechas, Jaegers, equipped with advanced weapons to destroy the invaders. Each mecha has a set of two pilots, as the strain of piloting a Jaeger alone is too much for one person's mind to bear.
Yes there is a ton of slam/bang special effects, but the effects are presented in a way so as to bolster the story telling, not substitute for it. The setting and characterization is reminiscent of the best Togusatsu and Kaiju products of the 70s and 80s heyday. Ultraman, Voltron, Gatchaman (Battle of the Planets in America), Mobile Suit Gundam, Marvel's Shogun Warriors comics and Super Dimension Fortress Macross (Robotech) are all represted well here.
I felt like a kid again wanting to cheer for the over-matched heroes trying to use their brains as well as their skill to repel the invaders trying to dominate the earth. Which is exactly the point. Director Guillermo Del Toro acknowledged this film's simplicity, but said he would have liked to have seen adventure films with similar morals when he was a child. And about having to work with someone you don't like, because both of your lives are on the line? "I think that's a great message to give kids," he said . "That guy you were beating the (----) out of ten minutes ago? That's the guy you have to work with five minutes later. That's life."
The story contains 10 character arcs for characters as well as the overarching development for the story at large. And who is leading the pack for characters? Idris Elba. The amazing Idris Elba. Yeah, I'm going all gooey here, but I don't think I've seen him in anything where he did a poor job. The guys is just aces (Dangard Aces).
Now without giving anything away, it's very entertaining that a movie that had such futuristic weaponry and technology, had to look backward to find some of the answers and save the day (yes, I have a flip phone, a beat up old 8 gig MP3 Player that I listen to for music and corded headphones, so what?). Like Real Steel (2011), this film gave us enough robotic/mecha technology to draw us into what would have been a tremendous failure if there wasn't a story line payoff. While the special effects served as the trail of breadcrumbs that lured us in, the story kept us in, with us wanting to find out "what happened" in the wondrous world to which we were invited.
IMDB says 6.9/10; I think its a little better when you get all the subtle nods to the worlds it was emulating. 7.5/10
Well stated, thanks!
I thought the idea of Raleigh going from a superstar Jaeger pilot to going to work on the defense wall as a nobody was an interesting turn. Risking his life and giving up everything only to be useless if you can't continue. Accurate.
Glad you enjoyed it.