Pacific Rim:
In the near future, humanity has been raging a war against destructive monsters called Kaiju (Japanese for "strange creature" or "giant monster") for years. Kaiju are alien beings from another dimension who travel to Earth via a strange portal in the Pacific Ocean. At the start of the war, the militaries of the world banded together to form a machine defense force: the Jager (German for "hunter") Program. Jagers are humongous machines that are designed to battle the Kaiju, basically giant robots vs. reptile monsters, or Gundam/Megazord vs. Godzilla (Funny enough, Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros., who made this film, are making a Gojira reboot that is coming out next year.) Jagers also require two pilots, who are mentally connected through a Jager's computer system. A washed-up Jager pilot named Raleigh is brought back into the program by his former commanding officer Stacker Pentecost. Raleigh is partnered with Mako, a young Asian woman who's family was killed in a Kaiju attack when she was just a child. Unfortunately for the military, time is running out, as more and more Kaijus rise from the Pacific portal. It's up to the remaining Jager pilots to figure out to put a stop to the Kaiju attacks once and for all, before Earth's defenses are completely overwhelmed. Now, despite the film looking a bit cheesy, like a rip-off of Transformers and the American Godzilla, that could not be farther from the truth. It is far better than Michael Bay's abysmal robot films, and far better than the American version of the Japanese monster. The cast are great. Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy, Queer as Folk, Undeclared, Green Street Hooligans) plays Raleigh. He's not the best lead ever, but he is a good actor, and is able to pull it off quite well. Rinko Kakuchi (Academy Award-nominee from Babel) plays Mako. She makes for a good lead, and del Toro specifically wrote the character to be a strong female lead, not a damsel-in-distress like Pepper Potts in Iron Man 3 or a "sex kitten" like Megan Fox or Rosie-Huntington Whiteley in Transformers. She did a good job, and was a slightly more interesting character than Raleigh. British actor Idris Elba (The Wire, Luther, The Office, The Big C, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Thor, Prometheus, The Losers, Takers, American Gangster) plays Stacker. He's a good supporting character, and gives a bad-ass speech near the climax (which is partially shown in the trailer) about cancelling the Apocalypse. Elba is a great actor, and is able to make even a supporting role like this very memorable. Comedian Charlie Day (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Horrible Bosses, Monsters University) is great as always, here playing a comic relief character Dr. Newton Geiszler. Day is a bit over-the-top, but that's his character. del Toro purposely wrote him with a bombastic personality, and cast him based on an episode of Sunny in Philadelphia. Day is also one of the best parts of the movie. Burn Gorman (Torchwood, The Dark Knight Rises, Bleak House, Red Lights, Johnny English Reborn) plays Geiszler's introverted partner, Dr. Hermann Gottlieb. He's a bit of an over-the-top cartoon character as well, but he works. He also provides comic relief, and he has some good funny moments, just not as many as Day. Max Martini (Saving Private Ryan, Level 9, The Great Raid, The Unit) and Robert Kazinsky (EastEnders, Dream Team) play the Australian father-and-son Jager duo of Herc and Chuck Hansen. Chuck is the stereotypical douche character, while Herc is more of a nice guy. Clifton Collins, Jr. (The Replacement Killers, Capote, Star Trek) plays Tendo Choi, the head of the Jager technician team, and an old friend of Raleigh and Stacker. Ron Perlman (Sons of Anarchy, Hellboy, Teen Titans, 1000 Ways to Die, Drive) plays Hannibal Chau, the head of a Kaiju black market in Hong Kong. He's a smaller role, but he's still a bad-ass, as usual. Perlman has worked on del Toro on several films, from starring in the Hellboy films to appearing in Blade II, he also co-starred with Hunnam in Sons of Anarchy. Voice actress Ellen McLain voices the Jaeger AI, which is funny, because her most famous role is the evil AI GLaDOS in the Portal game series. The special effects are incredible, and you really feel the size and scope of the monsters and robots, and see the destruction they cause in their battles. There's no shaky cam or "in your face" action, which is good, because you actually can tell what's happening in the fights. Speaking of which, the fight scenes are extremely entertaining and satisfying. They feel real, and there's some real damage done to both the Kaiju and the Jagers, and the cities, now that I'm thinking about it. The designs of the Kaiju and the Jagers are very original, and the Kaiju resemble reptiles, amphibians, and sea animals, as well as resembling creature from Lovecraftian lore, and Lovecraft is something del Toro loves to incorporate into his movies, which is funny, because this isn't typical del Toro. del Toro said he didn't want the movie to be too cynical, or try to be too deep, just be a fun, somewhat light-hearted summer action movie, which it accomplishes quite well. This is the best summer blockbuster since Man of Steel, it's even better than World War Z and This is the End. I saw it in the XD format, which is basically Century Theater's answer to IMAX. It's not as good as IMAX, and the 3D didn't do too much for me, but it was still pretty enjoyable, and the sound system kicked ass, but the screen wasn't nearly as large as typical IMAX. Pacific Rim is a fun action movie, but it is smart, and is pretty original, all things considered. It's funny, exciting, and awe-inspiring. Props to you, Mr. del Toro. 4.5/5 stars.
Notes: Hunnam, Perlman, and Day are all featured on FX shows. Also, wait until the middle of the credits, there is a post-credits scene you won't want to miss.
Another review I liked, no spoilers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H3iv8T9SfU
(Image: Wikipedia)
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