MOVIE REVIEW - Pacific Rim

The big time summer blockbusters are out in force this time of year.  Here comes the mammoth special effects sci-fi flick, Pacific Rim.  Available in regular, 3-D, and 3-D IMAX.


There has been a certain formula that has developed in the past few years of these big action jobs.   They are generally long, and have a ton of Spielberg-type humor.   Generally a few young handsome actors, and the budding young romance angle is always in play.  And the goal is that say, Transformers can be all things to all people.   There will be something for everyone, no matter who goes.   Pacific Rim, in its first installment goes a different way.

The story in a nutshell is this.  Earth has been invaded by huge Godzilla-like creatures from out of the ocean depths called Kaiju.   They come up and destroy cities, and humanity is on the verge of being wiped out, or at least demoted to the not dominate species on the planet.  The world then bands together as one, and develops a series of gigantic robots named Jaegers.   They are controlled by a pair of human pilots who use their movements inside the Jaegers to fight the Kaiju.  This is the story of how the two pilot system works, and the war against the Kaiju.   For those who have been around a while, it is essentially Godzilla versus Ultraman.  Although, we've come a long way since then in our movie making and movie savvy, but this is not a new idea.  Google Ultraman.  I know it looks silly, but storytellers have to draw their inspiration from somewhere.

Pacific Rim is a huge, special effect laden movie that checks in at a bit over 2 hours.   Up front, this was not my favorite movie by any means, but this is right on target for a hard core science fiction lover.  But among the things I did like about this movie is that it is one kind of movie.  If you are a serious sci-fi fanatic, this is your movie.   There are huge and great effects.  There are amazing machines in this movie, computers, and a story line that goes well beyond he simple "big things fighting" deal and goes deep into the minds of the geeks behind the machines, and the pilots who run them.  And that is an unending feast for sci-fi fans.  This is a bit Godzilla, a bit Top Gun, a bit Transformers, and a lot of fantasy fun.

Pacific Rim also has little time for romance or overused ironic humor, at least in this first one.   It also wastes no time getting you into the action. This is not a movie that makes you wait an hour for the principles to be introduced, and the action begins right away.  And that was well done too.   For me, this was far more enjoyable than the Transformers series, as it stays on target, and doesn't water down its original message.  Note, not everyone will like this movie.  For many this will look like 200 million dollar silliness.  To others,this will be the one they've been waiting for.

Pacific Rim.  This is for the serious science fiction fan, and there are plenty of them out there.   Mid-summer over the top action.   It will work.