Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Pacific Rim (2013)

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Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 07-13-2013, 10:04 PM:

CINEMA: Regal Kansas City 18, Kansas City, MO
AUDITORIUM: 6
PRESENTATION: Sony Digital 4K
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: Something's up with the left front channel...either low or something's missing
RATING: Two and one half stars (out of four)

So there's the thread about Regal not showing movie titles on the white boards outside the auditoriums now...that's the case here too. They all read like this now:

6 SIX 6
7 SEVEN 7
8 EIGHT 8

Kind of weird looking down the long corridor that houses 7-18. I took a picture, but you can't see the black letters on the bright white background, so I didn't bother posting it.

THE PLOT: Giant robots that everybody thinks are a ripoff of Transformers but are actually a ripoff of Power Rangers fight big rubber Japanese monsters. Wackiness ensues.

The guys who are really into low budget sci-fi and rubber Japanese monsters are probably going to go ape shit over this. In that genre, this is a big bloated masterpiece with some really cool visuals.

Trouble is, there aren't enough of those fanboys to make this movie profitable. And for the rest of us, this is kind of an effort to follow and an overall draining experience.

Ron Perlman's character is the highlight. He makes everybody else in the movie look really mediocre. I mean, they ARE mediocre, but his presence just really drives that point home.

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 07-15-2013, 02:05 AM:

It's essentially Transformers meets Godzilla*.

Earth is being attacked by evil space aliens that do not arrive via giant space ships but a portal, located in the Pacific. Those aliens are huge, Godzilla-style monsters that are getting bigger all the time. They like attacking humans, especially when clustered in big cities (just like Godzilla). The humans created huge robots to fight them. A few years later, the robot program is being phased out, because of being too expensive. The alternative is a big seawall, which seems to be entirely ineffective. You're invited to watch the last robot-gang standing...

Maybe it could work, but the problem is, it gets old very fast. After a while, it's just going from one unbelievable battle to the other. The acting is mediocre at best and the depiction of technology is laughable.

The movie does a slight attempt at humor and the highlight probably was the Ron Perlman part.

Spoiler Alert - Click to Toggle
The end of the movie is resolved Emmerich-style (maybe Guillermo del Toro watched too many Emmerich movies): a nuke is being delivered to the evil aliens and that solves all.

Looks like I've found out how the spoiler tag works [Wink]

.

* Or if you like Japanese culture, it's probably more Gundam meets Godzilla...

Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 07-15-2013, 10:52 AM:

In a nutshell, Top Gun and Independence Day had a baby and in it's crib it had some Transformers and Godzilla toys.

It had the "hot shot" pilot interaction from Top Gun and the strategies from Independence Day. The one speech that the General (or whatever rank he was) gave I was expecting him to blurt out "today, we celebrate our Independence Day!" At the end, I was waiting for the cigars to come out.

It wasn't aweful but it wasn't good. It was somewhat entertaining and the special effects were pretty good (I saw it in 2D) but it is by no means a "must see" and I don't know how they greenlit that kind of budget with that screenplay.

2 1/2 *'s out of 5

Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 07-20-2013, 07:54 PM:

Guillermo Del Toro is mostly known for flashy, expertly designed monster movies (Hellboy, Blade etc) and Pacific Rim is little different. Here he appears to be gunning for the cheesiness of Japanese Godzilla movies and the film is certainly more Asian than Hollywood in flavour, even if it does look like the special effects maintains its Hollywood-sized budget. But at no time does the hero ever have sex with the girl and indeed the girl is a hero herself - attributes that are rare in a Hollywood film.

On the cheese score Del Toro hits most of the marks; the dialogue is corny, plot points spontaneously materialise as the drama requires, and at no point does it feel like any of it really matters. Accordingly, performances are hammy to the bone - with the exception of a young Japanese girl (she looks about 6 or 7) whose performance outshines every adult actor in the film by a very large margin indeed - and features two of the worst Aussie accents you'll ever hear. However, the operative word here is "FUN" and Del Toro delivers this for the most part.

But the primary focus of the film, of course, is the mech/monster smackdowns and these sequences do not disappoint. The nostalgic design of the machines and beasts is as satisfying as the clamour of their impacts against each other and the surrounding environment. The only criticism here is that the film is probably about one monster battle too long. By the time we get to the films climax, you feel like you've seen as many robot/monster clashes as you'd ever want to see. As a result, the climax is a little tiresome.

As fun as Pacific Rim is, it must be about time for Del Toro to throw another Pan's Labrynth into his mix. With that film he demonstrated that he was capable of being a wonderful director and visualist. It's time we were reminded of that. Until then, however, Pacific Rim is just what it is; a fun popcorn movie and little else.

7 out of 10.

quote: Marcel Birgelen
* Or if you like Japanese culture, it's probably more Gundam meets Godzilla...

More Evangelion I would say given its constant levelling up of alien monsters. [Smile]

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 07-26-2013, 10:03 PM:

I think I was pretty underwhelmed by this movie - sure monsters battling robots is cool... initially, after a while though the excitement wears off. I'm not sure what it was lacking, but in the end I felt like a kid who had his ice cream snatched from his hand and thrown to the floor after only eating half of it. I did like Idris Elba and Charlie Day (which is rare, since I find him slightly annoying... that voice -aaaggh!)