Saturday 13 July 2013

Movie Review: Pacific Rim


Pacific Rim is the most entertaining live-action mecha VS kaiju film to date. The premise is simple and unpretentious. The film honours the origins of the genre, it doesn't try to be something else and delivers on its promise. The fight between Kaiju and Jaegers are clear clean-shot action sequences, no shaky-cam, extreme zoom-ins, 360 shots or first person viewing that would make many audience uncomfortable.The action is beautifully choreographed, executed with style and magnificence.

Ignore the critics' comments that the monsters or mecha shown in the film is unclear or not visible because most of the fight scenes happen at night, in the rain or underwater...because they're totally unjustified. I can clearly see them.  Although no in-depth character development is provided for all of the supporting characters and there are some character issues in the film (some characters seemed to be 'specifically engineered' to serve a purpose),  but the characterisation provided is sufficient enough for the audience to know them and justify their actions in the film.

The film didn't try to be overly serious, a pair of mismatched scientists is included to provide some comic relief.There're some plotting issues where the prologue that serves as the backstory of the war is too fast-paced and we're only shown a glimpse of the Kaiju's first contact to humanity. There's a flashback scene worth mentioning, the little girl who plays the young Mako is extremely adorable and her expressions managed to convince the audience about her traumatic experience. 

If your childhood memories consists of Transformers, Evangelion, Mobile Suit Gundam, Godzilla, Ultraman...So why not give Pacific Rim a chance? This is a definite love letter to all the Kaiju/mecha fans out there, co-written, co-produced, directed by Del Toro himself to re-introduce this old genre back to the younger generation.

Rating: 8/10


Note: Some of the physics presented in the film are questionable, we see that 6-8 helicopters can carry a Jaeger (2300-2400 tonnes = 2300,000-2400,000kg), but according to the calculations presented in the following site, is impossible.
http://io9.com/how-would-you-carry-a-jaeger-from-pacific-rim-700775398

Building a mecha with a weight of 2300-2400 tonnes that can stand up, walk and maintain its balance in a world built for humans is nigh on impossible due to its upper body weight.


For details about the Kaijus and Jaegers shown in the film, please visit the link below:



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