Japanese kaiju gets a big boost in 'Pacific Rim,' Guillermo Del Toro's action-packed,
visually stunning mecha-versus-monster smackdown guaranteed to fill every
fanboy's heart with joy. Being a kaiju fan (I grew up watching Ultraman
and Godzilla), PR is one of my most anticipated movies of the summer. The movie is also influenced by Japanese mecha anime such as 'Mobile Suit Gundam'
and 'Neon Genesis Evangelion.'
The story of PR is straightforward
enough. Giant monsters emerge from an
extra-dimensional portal beneath the Pacific Ocean. They terrorize and perform 'urban renewal' to
cities along the Pacific Rim, killing millions, and humanity is forced to
create its own 'monsters' in the form of towering, nuclear reactor-powered mechas called Jaegers (Hunters) to fight them. When a movie is premised on a supernatural conceit like the
fact that the monsters come from another dimension, or that they can magically
spawn more frequently and evolve to ever deadlier 'categories' (like hurricanes)
in a war of escalation, we really shouldn't be
asking overly logical questions like why earth's defenders didn't just nuke the
monsters before they reach the coastline or why the Jaegers are armed mainly
for hand-to-hand combat rather than with stand-off, long-range weaponry to engage them from afar.
As in his 'Hellboy' movies and
'Pan's Labyrinth,' Del Toro is a true auteur when it comes to visual style and aesthetic. In PR,
the kaiju designs are inspired by dinosaurs, reptiles, crustaceans, and even Francisco
Goya's famous painting 'The Colossus.'
The Jaegers likewise are all distinctive, designed to give each its unique 'national' character: USA's 'Gipsy Danger' (below) looks 'western,' combining elements of Halo and Iron Man. 'Cherno Alpha' is a behemoth of brutal functionality, a superheavy tank of a Jaeger you will have no trouble at all identifying as 'Russian.' The Chinese Jaeger with a 3-man crew, 'Crimson Typhoon,' is red, high-tech looking and very stylish, as befits the rising 'Dragon from the East.' The
gladiatorial-style clashes between heavy-metal Jaegers and tough flesh-and-hide kaiju, up close and intense, were either fought in the rainy night or underwater,
lending the movie its atmosphere and tone.
Curiously, PR reminded me a
little of 'Top Gun,' because the main Jaeger pilot in the movie, Raleigh
Beckett (Charlie Hunnam of 'Sons of Anarchy'), sought redemption after a tragic incident,
like Tom Cruise's 'Maverick' after 'Goose' died. The Jaeger pilots are an ultra-competitive and territorial bunch; there's even friction between Beckett and a cocky young Australian pilot,
reminiscent of the rivalry between Maverick and Iceman. Idris Elba did a fine
job as the authoritative 'father figure' holding them all together and Rinko Kikuchi infused her role with equal
measures of toughness and vulnerability.
Comic relief came in the form of Charlie Day (playing the same character from 'It's Only Sunny in Philadelphia') as a scientist holding the key to vanquishing the kaiju, and
'Hellboy' himself (Ron Perlman) as a black marketeer of kaiju parts.
Bottom line: 'Pacific Rim' is
a fun and entertaining giant robot mecha versus monster mash-up that
should not be missed. Just be sure to watch it with the mindset of a 12-year old kid. Awesome!
Grade: A-
What do you mean Japan has to wait til August 9 to see this???!!!
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