Pacific Rim Review

So here we are with one of the biggest films of the summer and of the year, Pacific Rim. Honestly I thought to myself that this film can’t be bad right? I mean it has monsters and robots fighting each other, plus it has Idris Elba in it and it’s directed by Guillermo del Toro, this can’t suck right? Well I’ve been cautiously optimistic up until now and I with the recent reviews I wasn’t sure what kind of film I was going to get in the end. Again I just wanted the film to be good, so I went to see it with my sister yesterday and you know what? The film’s FRIGGIN’ BADASS and I’m gonna tell you why in this review.

So the story is set in the near future where giant monsters from another dimension known as “Kaiju” have risen from the depths of the Pacific Ocean via a portal and started causing mass destruction in several key areas of the world. So the humans, not wanting to go down without a fight create massive robots, known as Jaegers to combat the monsters. These robots are controlled simultaneously by two or more pilots whose minds are connected because it would be too much for a single pilot. However as the years go on, the monster get smarter and Jaegers struggle to win the war against the Kaiju. So at the darkest point in time when the planet looks like its going under, the last remaining forces of mankind make a final stand to take out the Kaiju once and for all.

I thought the story in this film was pretty cool. You get an idea of what’s going on from all the marketing for the film, but I feel like there was so much more going on in the film than what the trailers let on, and to me that’s a damn good thing. There’s elements of drama, epicness and humour all sprinkled around this film and it makes for a great viewing experience. The story feels very straightforward but at the same time very well thought out, there is layers and substance, and that’s not something come across too often in this genre of film. Most monster films don’t have much in the way of story or at the very least a story you care about, but here I liked what I saw. I liked the human element to the film and how there a great focus on mankind’s struggle to survive and the individual stories going on with the main cast members. There’s drama, emotion and good back stories which I was invested in throughout.

As for the cast I think they all bring a little something special to the characters that play in the film. Let’s start with Charlie Hunnam as Raleigh Becket, I thought he was great in the film. He’s a guy who knows what the deal when it comes to these monster and piloting the robots, but he’s experienced some epic and emotional times. Even in the face of his tough experiences he still has a lot of great and righteous qualities that makes him a great main character: Rinko Kikuchi as Mako Mori was lovely, besides being very beautiful I liked her character. She was very reserved but when it came to anything involving piloting the Jaegers she became very focused and we got to see more of her character which was nice. I liked Mako’s backstory and I thought that Kikuchi played her role nicely.

Now let’s talk about the man of the hour and my personal favourite person in the film which was Idris Elba as Stacker Pentecost. Elba simply put was such a badass! There just some roles this man lands himself in and when he commits to it all of his talent can be seen shining through and that was clearly apparent in this film. Stacker is a man who is focused on the matter at hand, he’s very focused and determined. I thought that Elba was very charismatic, cool and just badass. Also Charlie Day as Dr. Newton Geizler was pretty funny, even though he was meant to a scientist studying the Kaiju. Geizler is just this crazy nutcase who can be kind of annoying at times but ultimately is funny and definitely has his great moments in the film. along with him is Burn Gorman as Dr. Hermann Gottlieb who is another scientist studying the Kaiju alongside Geizler. Gorman’s performance is very expressive and strange, but it made for some brilliant moments of humour especially when he was squabbling with his partner.

And there’s Ron Perlman as Hannibal Chau, honestly Perlman was great in this role. Hannibal Chau is this dodgy black market dealer who is such an unpredictable guy. He’s very intimidating, but also quite funny because he’s very badass and cold mannerisms. This role feels like it was meant for him as it gives him room to be is cool and humorous self like we’ve seen in his previous films. And lastly Robert Kazinsky as Chuck Hansen was pretty good, he was a bit of douche but he played a douche very well and I was surprised to see Sean from Eastenders in a big film like this, but yeah Kazinsky was good.

As for the presentation, my god, the frigging presentation was BEYOND POWER, WAS BEYOND EPIC, IT WAS GODLY! Maybe I’m sounding a bit over-the-top but in truth the film looked fabulous, the scale was so big and large and there were some great camera angles used to emphasize the giant creatures. This was also thanks the incredible CGI work from Industrial Light & Magic whose work in this film is apparent in every shot in the film. My only issue with the visuals in that in some of the night fight scenes it was hard to make out what certain things were on the monster’s bodies or faces. As for the soundtrack by Ramin Djawadi I thought it was great, Djawadi’s score was varied and had a lot of layers, it was dramatic, epic and loud and emotional at times too.

In conclusion Pacific Rim was AWESOME! End of. I wasn’t sure what to expect, I just wanted the film to be good and it was better than good, it was kick ass! There was so much to love, the story was nice, the visuals were insane, I liked the cast and the monster designs were so unique and incredible to look at. Some people are hating on this film but don’t let it detour you, this film is a good time at the cinema, if you want to see a great modern monster film in the cinema, then look no further than Pacific Rim.

Rating: 8.5/10 (Such a beast of a film, ultimate fun time!)

So what did you lot think of Pacific Rim? Did it meet or exceed your expectations or were you disappointed? Whatever your thoughts drop them below and give me your thoughts yo, I won’t judge you, much haha. Until the next review people, laters! 😀