So what's the movie about, you ask? (If you're actually asking, that is) If you haven't already gathered from the previews, mankind is facing its biggest (Pun intended) threat yet: The Kaiju, ginormous, ferocious beasts who have broken into our world using a dimensional rift in the Pacific Ocean. The sole purpose of these monsters is to ensure the total annihilation of mankind. In order to combat this colossal threat, humanity has united to create gargantuan, humanoid fighting machines known as Jaegers. Two pilots connect via a neural link, a process known as 'The Drift', in order to control these giant metal contraptions and perform all kinds of cool wrestling moves. The stronger the bond between pilots, the better they'll do in battle. The Jaeger program is the only thing standing between the Kaiju and the obliteration of the human species and our last hope.
If the bare bones plot description I've offered you seems like nothing more than an excuse to get giant robots and monsters bashing the crap out of each other in $200 million form, then you wouldn't be too far off. Pacific Rim's storyline is about as rudimentary as you can get and its characters can't quite transcend their generic stereotypes to become anything particularly memorable. But, good Lord, those robot/monster showdowns are insane! As Charlie Day's character Dr. Newt Geiszler would say, 'It's pretty cool.' It certainly doesn't hurt when you have a visionary director like Guillermo del Toro at the helm. del Toro is a spectacular filmmaker and one of my personal all-time favorites. He's the kind of director who can go from making low-budget, critically acclaimed fare such as Cronos, The Devil's Backbone, or Pan's Labyrinth to the fanboy pleasing splendor of Blade II and the vastly underappreciated Hellboy films.
Regardless of what the subject matter may be, del Toro instills each and every one of his films with an extraordinary amount of passion, making exactly the kind of movie he wants to make, critics be damned. There's something incredibly admirable about his total lack of ego and love for whatever subject matter he takes on. His full devotion to making the biggest, baddest Robots vs. Monsters movie, embracing the story's simplicity with zeal, is both the movie's greatest strength and its greatness weakness. Even with its flaws though, the visuals are stunning beyond all reason (The colorful Hong Kong footage is particularly impressive) and the epic battles deliver in spades. It's exactly what I was hoping the original Transformers movie would be before the reality of Michael Bay's travesty brought my expectations crashing down. del Toro fills each and every frame with childlike joy and ensures that we are consistently captivated by all the spectacular visuals without totally losing focus on the humanity at the heart of the thing. Mr. Beaks of Ain't It Cool News described it best:
"Bay's the kind of hyperactive brat who'd come to your house and break all of your toys; del Toro is the good-hearted dreamer with boundless imagination who'd spin out some crazily expansive narrative incorporating every action figure at your disposal, no matter how disparate. You have fun with del Toro; you get grounded because of Bay."
This is the primary reason why del Toro's Pacific Rim succeeds where Bay's Transformers franchise has failed. It also might have something to do with the fact that del Toro is actually talented. That certainly helps a bit.
But enough Bay bashing. On to the rest of the review!
The cast does well with the limited amount of material they have to work with. Charlie Hunnam as Jaeger pilot Raleigh Becket makes for a fitting lead hero (As do his abs) and Rinko Kikuchi is adorably badass as Mako Mori, a Japanese girl with a tragic past and excellent fighting skills. You've got Idris Elba giving a spirited performance as Becket's commanding officer Stacker Pentecost and Charlie Day to offer some levity as a zany Kaiju-obsessed scientist. Even del Toro regular Ron Perlman makes an appearance as a shady black market operator who specializes in selling Kaiju organs and body parts. (And, let's be honest, what's not to love about Ron Perlman?) With such an outstanding cast, it really is a shame that del Toro and co-writer Travis Beachem couldn't have invested the amount of time they spent designing the monsters and robots into developing a more involving story or more interesting characters. Still, there's something resembling an emotional core here and the characters are likable enough to keep you interested in what's going on even if you aren't totally invested.
So, sure, Pacific Rim might not live up to the loftiest of expectations and with del Toro at the helm it's a bit natural to be disappointed by that. But, despite this, it succeeds as wildly entertaining blockbuster escapism and in the wake of Man of Steel's slightly exhausting self-seriousness, a big summer movie that isn't ashamed of its roots is wholly refreshing. Pacific Rim knows just how goofy it is and it's proud of it. del Toro has designed this picture to appeal first and foremost to the twelve-year-old soul buried deep beneath our cynical adult outlooks and that is something to be applauded.
CONCLUSION: Pacific Rim won't wow anyone with its simple story or hackneyed characterizations, but it's got enough rock 'em sock 'em robots and monster mashing action to ensure you'll walk away feeling satisfied.
FINAL RATING: 4/5
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