The Summer of 2013 saw some big movie releases. IRON MAN 3, MAN OF STEEL, STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS come to mind immediately. But each of those had a dark tone, something I'm not looking for in my big popcorn summer action (although I love IRON MAN 3, which is a story for another time). I thought MAN OF STEEL and STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS to be particularly disappointing in their re-writing of long standing characters and mythology. And then we got PACIFIC RIM.
The story of PACIFIC RIM is basically that a dimensional rift has opened deep in the Pacific Ocean and unleashed kaiju. Think Godzilla. The first kaiju wrought destruction for days (K-Day being the first encounter) before it was finally brought down by our conventional weapons. Then a second one showed up. It wasn't a single occurrence and the world leaders decided the best way to fight these giant monsters was with giant robots. Just roll with it, it's more fun that way. Enter the Jaegers, giant robotic warriors piloted by neurally linked pairs of pilots that share memories to move and fight as one. But funding Jaegers is expensive and politicians think we'd be better defended by a giant wall to keep the kaiju at bay. The last remaining Jaegers and their teams are brought to a base called the Shatterdome (I love the name) to act as the last line of defense.
I'll be the first to admit I'm a huge fan of Guillermo del Toro. I have all of the movies he's directed in my collection and I can find something great about all of them, even MIMIC. Ok, MIMIC can be a bit of a stretch, but still. With PACIFIC RIM GdT gave us his love letter to kaiju movies, especially ones with giant robots. PACIFIC RIM gave me the summer action I wanted without trying to make it overly dark, a trend I lay squarely at the feet of Christopher Nolan's Batman films.
Let's start with the Jaegers, those giant robots made to battle monsters from another dimension. We're introduced to four Jaegers, each with unique design reflecting their pilots and country of origin. CHERNO ALPHA is Russian and basically the tank of the party. CRIMSON TYPHOON is Chinese and agile, with three arms and a triplet set of pilots. STRIKER EUREKA is from the Aussies and finally there's GIPSY DANGER, the hero of the story. Well, GIPSY's pilots are the heros, but you get the idea.
And we can't have giant robots without kaiju to fight. The rift in the ocean unleashes a series of uniquely designed monsters, each more powerful than the last. The design on these is fantastic and each one instantly recognizable. Both the kaiju and the Jaegers are beautifully detailed.
It's not enough to have those effects heavy robots and monsters we have to have good actors behind them. Three roles really stand out to me. First there's Idris Elba as Stacker Pentecost, the head of the Shatterdome and what remains of the Jaeger project. Idris is his usual charismatic self, really driving his scenes including the big "Canceling the Apocalypse!" speech featured in every commercial and trailer. Then there's the two scientists doing kaiju research, played by Charlie Day and Burn Gorman. It's the typical odd couple matchup but constantly entertaining although I do wish Day was a little less like his role in It's Always Sunny. Let's see some variety. The third role (and I could the scientists as one) is a personal favorite, Ron Perlman as Hannibal Chau, a trader in black market kaiju goods.
I'll end my little love letter with mentioning the sound work. There's a great, high energy score with some awesome guitar work and great for putting on headphones and going for a run, especially the GIPSY DANGER theme. But the real gem is the computer voice in the control room for the Jaegers, at least for GIPSY DANGER - none other than GLaDOS from Portal.
Straight up I love this movie. It covered with GdT's amazing visual style and brings his vision to the screen.
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