Pacific Rim

Giant robot mechs. Enormous alien monsters. What more could you possibly ask for? Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim is fueled by the “bigger is better” idiom and the classic monster movies that seem to have faded into obscurity for the past few years. It’s every young kids dream finally materialized on the big screen.

Aliens have invaded the planet not from the sky, but from an inter-dimensional portal deep within a rift in the Pacific Ocean. All of humanity banded together to create Jaegers, massive robots piloted by two-person teams, to combat the new threat. Victory was short lived, however, as the frequency and size of the attacks began to exponentially increase. With the world looking towards better solutions, Jaeger Program leader Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba) commands what’s left of the giant mechs into one final all-out offensive attack.

Pacific Rim’s main draw is the Jaegers, these larger than life mechs that are piloted simultaneously by two people. A single pilot’s mind simply cannot handle the immense strain controlling a Jaeger puts on the brain so they devised the “mind drift” in order to sync the minds and memories of two pilots together. The stronger the connection, the better they fight. The technology behind the Jaegers is fascinating. del Toro and writer Travis Beacham have crafted a whole history and science behind the mechs that makes them come alive and be more than just massive robots causing destruction wherever they go. The Jaegers take on a personality almost as much as the people who pilot them.

Front and center of the attack is former Jaeger pilot Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) who left years ago when he lost his co-pilot and brother out on a mission. He’s a high risk and likes to disobey direct orders but is the exact talent need by Commander Pentecost. Pacific Rim’s first act sets up this whole backstory for Hunnam’s character establishing the relationship between him and his brother but doesn’t quite follow through with it throughout the rest of the film. Here you have this troubled pilot who has lost his brother/best friend, and it’s barely referenced once he returns from his self-inflicted expulsion from the program. While it’s not that big of a deal, it could have added some much needed depth to his character.

He pilots the Jaeger Gipsy Danger along with the newly trained Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) who has some baggage of her own coming into the mission. She may be inexperienced, but she ends up being the most compatible with Becket. What I enjoy about Mako is that she isn’t just some woman who gets in the way or needs rescuing. She can hold her own with the other Jaeger pilots and is vital to the success of the mission; after all, it takes two people to control a mech, not one.

Let’s be honest, though. The real reason you’re seeing Pacific Rim is for the giant mech-on-monster carnage. Watching two (sometimes more) behemoths go at each other with mechanical fists flying and neon glowing blood oozing is a sight to behold. They are fights of epic proportions that the trailers simply can’t do justice. Seeing it is one thing, but hearing the sound of one bone crushing blow after another is a whole other experience. There are three of these battle sequences throughout the film and they only get larger in scale and in awesomeness.

When the world is not being attacked by deadly Kaiju, we get a look at some of the non-Jaeger piloting characters including scientist Newton Geizler (Charlie Day) and black market dealer Hannibal Chau (Ron Perlman). These secondary characters give a first-hand view of what it’s like witnessing a Kaiju attack from the ground and really put the whole picture into perspective. They also add a nice comedic tone to certain moments. What’s strange is that they’re actually more interesting than any of the main characters. I would have loved to see more of Hannibal’s Kaiju harvesting business or Newton’s research. Here’s hoping that they’re just saving it for the sequel.

Pacific Rim is a glorious spectacle of man and machine that tips the scale visually. Its characters could use a little bit more development, but that’s not really on your mind when you have hundred foot tall robots in your face. Guillermo del Toro knows how to create an experience like no other, and Pacific Rim delivers one of the most thrilling and action-packed experiences of the summer.