Pacific Rim
Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day
Directed By: Guillermo Del Toro
Reviewed by Danielle Muir

[rating: 3.5/5]

Guillermo Del Toro set alight the inner child in audiences with the thought of his latest creation – mammoth scale sea monsters having a barney with equally bad-ass robots.  Whilst initial criticisms have seen the plot (aka the bits between the fighting – yes they do exist) lacking and riddled with clichés, this reviewer personally believes that Pacific Rim actually tried harder than most action flicks to create an intriguing mix of science, technology, comedy and personal struggle to tie audiences over between confrontations.  Sure – it might not be top notch quality, but at least it’s there.  Considering everyone’s really there to watch monsters fight robots, they gave a good storyline the old college try.

A rip between world’s in the Pacific ocean has allowed the Kaiju to slip through onto our planet – decimating cities and taking thousands of lives.  To combat this humans initiated the Jager program, allowing rangers in duos to ‘mind-meld’ with each other and their metal counterpart in order to defeat the sporadically appearing monsters.  After a five year hiatus, former ranger Raleigh Becket (Hunnam) returns to the hot-seat as scientists track an influx of Kaiju activity, and the armies attempt to close the rip for good.

Pacific Rim’s action sequences are nothing short of a marvel.  The sheer scale, mechanics and stunning visual effects make viewing absolutely thrilling – you can see the immense force behind every movement and pummel.  The fights are vicious and orchestrated on a level we’ve never seen, with one party always left ripped to pieces.  Even if you have qualms with the dodgy in-between bits, it’s worth the ticket price alone to see a Jager sock a Kaiju in the face using an oil tanker as a baseball bat.

The acting can be a bit questionable – lead Charlie Hunnam looks the part as a troubled ranger but his role is pretty one dimensional, a means to another fight really.  His new partner Mako (Kikuchi) is perfectly nice but not overly interesting, together the two don’t really have much chemistry but it’s interesting to watch them ‘mind-meld’ for the first time, to semi-explosive results.  The trailer gives a good indication of Idris Elba’s commander – he’s certainly a presence but his acting tips the ham-ometer into Jim Carrey territory.  And he’s only really there for show.  There’s some crazy bonehead scientists which are good for a laugh, Ron Pearlman looks brilliant as a wealthy Bangkok-ian crook and by god there are some shocking Australian accents in this film.  All the characters reflect Del Toro’s manga influence – most are entirely ludicrous but are enough to keep the film afloat.  And then back to the fighting – hooray!

The scale of Pacific Rim’s fight scenes are something the likes of which we’ve never seen – even if you are frustrated by the plot or hollow characters, simply go for the spectacle of the cutting edge visual effects – let your inner child enjoy the pretty lights and loud noises.