Pacific Rim (2013) Directed by Guillermo del Toro. Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi. IMDB says: “As a war between humankind and monstrous sea creatures wages on, a former pilot and a trainee are paired up to drive a seemingly obsolete special weapon in a desperate effort to save the world from the apocalypse.”
My excitement level for Pacific Rim was off the charts. I mean, a Guillermo del Toro directed Monster Movie featuring Idris Elba and giant fighting robots? Come on now. Then you got Charlie Day wearing glasses playing a scientist and I don’t know… did I mention big ol’ monsters from the sea? When I put it in print I can sort of understand how I was set up for such disappointment. I was following the names, the cool visuals and the thought that if Michael Bay can wow me with a popcorn flick like Transformers, then del Toro will blow me out of my chair. I was misled by the stats and the marketing to think that Pacific Rim would be the interesting, badass, original summer blockbuster I have been waiting for. To quote a less disappointing, but still over-hyped film from last year:
“But you don’t understand. You don’t know. This place isn’t what we thought it was. They aren’t what we thought they were. I was wrong. We were so wrong.”
SO, one day a humongous alien creature comes out of the ocean and destroys San Francisco. People are devastated but they eventually come to terms with the destruction, band together, rebuild and move on. Until of course more humungo monsters come and attack various cities all over the world. These monsters are called Kaiju (which the film tells us literally means Giant Monster in Japanese…) and in order to combat them, countries from every corner of the globe come together and create the Jaeger program. The German word for Hunter, Jaegers are Kaiju-sized robots run by two copilots who are actually INSIDE the head of the mechanical warriors. It takes two because the process used to control the bots known as drifting requires too much brain power for one person to handle. So they split that shit up and find like-minded, compatible pilots to control the man-made monsters.
The premise is straight forward enough and if I’m being completely honest, the fact that most of the science and military motivations in the film doesn’t make any sense doesn’t bother me all that much. After all, this is a movie where giant robots fight giant alien monsters and I am fine with it. I want to see that happen therefore I’m willing to except any outlandish sci-fi the filmmakers can throw my way. But shaky plausibility still weighs down Pacific Rim in a different way that I CAN fault the movie makers for. The film constantly contradicts it’s own rules and constraints seemingly out of laziness. If something doesn’t make sense a quick shot of exposition will be belted out by one of the characters which ends up feeling like an Ancient Aliens meme (“therefore…aliens!”) And things we know to be true in this universe are equally discarded when it becomes too bothersome for the writers to be creative. I’d rather not list off a ton of examples just in case something runs into spoiler territory but a prime instance of this takes place while the two characters connect through the drift. While in the drift, it is explained that the two pilots can understand everything the other person knows, from what they are thinking in the present, their anticipated actions and even all their past memories and emotions. That sounds neat but when it comes time for battle, Jager pilots frequently blurt out directions and orders back and forth to one another as if they don’t already know what they are going to do. It’s a nitpick, but one of many that come together to weaken the story.
Then, within the fight to save humanity, is a whole cast of characters within the Jager program. Our central story revolves around Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) a doesn’t-play-by-the-rules Jager pilot that stepped away from the Defense Corps after the death of his copilot brother. He’s trying to stay far away from his former career but commander Stacker Pentecos (Idris Elba) convinces him that the program is in dire need of his skills. Blah, blah, blah the rest is pretty cookie cutter. Basic plot is suitable for this type of film but it would help if you could care for any of the characters. Hunnam is terrible in the film and was the blandest of heroes. I don’t understand why his American accent is so bad. Hasn’t Sons of Anarchy been on for a few years now? Other people in the cast include Charlie Day and Burn Gorman, both playing silly scientist caricatures that are always bickering. Rinko Kikuchi plays Mako Mori, the female lead with a touching back story but not much else going on. There’s an Australian pilot (Robert Kazinsky) with a dog and absurdly unfounded anger towards Raleigh because… I don’t know, tension! But thankfully, Idris Elba is there, making his one note character someone you’re actually mildly interested in. Saying he steals his scenes is an understatement because it’s sort of embarrassing for the rest of the cast when they share screen time.
Often times, I couldn’t work out if it was the script I was bummed out by, or bad performances or if both were intentional efforts from the director. I expected a certain level of campiness in a story like this one but Pacific Rim was off the charts goofy and not in a charming way. Almost every human interaction was loaded with corny dialogue, over the top performances and overbearing musical selections. Oh god, the music. The soundtrack is an unrelenting driving force throughout the entire film that made very sure what emotion you were supposed to feel at every step. It was hard for me to accept all my issues with the film because, well, Guillermo del Toro. I know he’s a more than a competent filmmaker, one bordering on brilliant when crafting wonderful films like Pan’s Labyrinth. SO where had all that magic gone? Were my sights set too high? I think the issue stemmed from my perception of what Pacific Rim was supposed to be. I imagined a Godzilla send-up but one with epic fights and boundless imagination. Unfortunately, the creativity seemed to stop with the imagery. I don’t want to dwarf how truly gorgeous the visual effects work and cinematography are. The fight sequences are grand in scope as well. But ultimately, I wanted something or someone to root for. I wanted to feel the reasons to fight and not sink in my chair every time humans were shown on screen. Pacific Rim is a kids movie, one that adults might enjoy but I’m convinced it wasn’t made for us. I expected something more in vein of Transformers but what I got was Real Steel. The PG-13 rating is misleading for a film that feels like a kid playing with giant toys. I’m sure 12 year old boys and like minded individuals will be blown away, though.
I really wanted to fall in love but Pacific Rim is personally my most disappointing movie of the year. Unless The Wolf on Wall Street turns out to be Leonardo Dicaprio taking a shit for 2 hours then I think I can stand firm with that statement.
