Friday, July 26, 2013
In a summer filled with ridiculous sequels (like Grown Ups 2) and even the good sequels (Despicable Me 2) it’s always nice to see an original property. And when that property involves a phenomenal director like Guillermo Del Toro, you have yourself a bona fide blockbuster. While the trailers didn’t offer a lot to be genuinely excited about, I still had faith in Del Toro to deliver something in the realm of Hellboy or Blade II. And, to a certain extent, he didn’t disappoint.
What I really want to talk about is the specifics behind the film. All of that stuff that can’t be telegraphed to us via the trailers. Mostly, what I want to talk about are the characters.
There are several characters in this movie, (most of whom I don’t even remember their names, but thanks to IMDB, I don’t have to!) which can be an advantage and a disadvantage. With this movie, I would say it’s a bit of a disadvantage. Having a lot of characters in Pacific Rim didn’t allow for us (the audience) to get to know the characters really well, or really for these characters to develop in anyway. All of the characters are just archetypes from the action/adventure genre that we have seen several times over. We have the moody antagonist with daddy issues; the badass leader who don’t take no shit; the meek/introvertive sidekick; and, of course, the heroic lead. None of these are very unique characters, but they can be, if you take just one or two and delve deep into the character development. Sadly, this film didn’t allow for that.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that this completely detracted from the film, but that’s because the film pretty much asks us to let it slide from the first scene. By giving us such a rich and detailed world that the film takes place in, we have enough trouble wrapping our heads around all of the new terms (like kaiju and jaegers) to stop and figure out what these characters are. I don’t think they intentionally made the characters stereotypical to let us focus on the world building, but that’s just how it worked out. So, I’m not really giving them kudos for the bland characters, just saying why it didn’t kill the movie for me.
I must say, though, I did enjoy two characters in the movie. Dr. Newton Geiszler (Charlie Day) and Hannibal Chau (Ron Perlman.) While Day’s character was a little typical, but I found his solo scenes to be pretty entertaining, and I absolutely loved his screen time with Perlman. And that brings me to my favorite thing about the movie: Ron Perlman. His character was the epitome of unique. I don’t want to spoil anything, since he shows up a good chunk into the movie, but I found this character to be really cool. His motivations were understandable and his persona was brilliant. I loved every second of his screen time. 
I realize this is getting long, but I feel like I would be doing this movie a disservice if I didn’t mention a few other things. First off, Guillermo Del Toro’s director was as good as always. I’m convinced that this man can’t fuck up when he is in the director’s chair. Second, the acting was okay; Idris Elba, Ron Perlman and Charlie Day stood out to me, other than that...mediocre. Charlie Hunman was especially forgettable. Lastly, the score for this movie was horrendous. It had no flow, and felt completely out of place at all times. I can’t believe this is the same guy that scores Game of Thrones, because these are polar opposites.
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Though it doesn’t quite hold up to the standard of quality that Del Toro has set for himself, it delivers exactly what it promises. There are some cool action sequences and a grittiness that only Del Toro can be responsible for. If you ever watched Neo Genesis Evangelion and thought “I wish they mashed this up with Godzilla...and made it live action,” then you should go see this movie.
Writing: 5/10
Directing: 7/10
Acting: 5.5/10
Pacing: 6.5/10
Rewatchability: 6.5/10
Score: 6.1/10
