Pacific Rim

[palitoy]

This movie has yet to open in the majority of Asia, if South Korean numbers are any indication this will be another example of a movie that does far better abroad than in North America.

[kingdom warrior]

My review's up at my author page.

There are members here who are not on FB: I hope you don't mind if I post your review here for those members to read

Review by by knight errant00 – PACIFIC RIM

When I was a kid, I was terrified of monsters. Maybe because of a stray comment from a babysitter or from a mom trying to keep a three-year-old in his room for a nap, maybe from just who I was. But I was sure there were fanged, furred, horned, scaly, or spiky things that waited in the dark or downstairs or wherever I couldn’t see immediately what was ahead.

Perhaps that’s what drew me so strongly to heroic figures when I was little -- the idea of a powerful, capable champion who could stand up to the monsters I saw in the dark corners irresistible to me.

Director Guillermo Del Toro’s PACIFIC RIM, then, is a natural for me to love.

Let’s start with the obvious; if you’re looking for character arcs and nuanced dialogue demonstrating hidden pain and feeling or a too-human tale of personal failings, just stop here. This is a movie about giant robots fighting giant monsters, and if you’re not in on that premise, nothing else will sell you on this film. Go on, the rest of us have a rip-roaring, all-out awesome spectacle of coastal destruction and heroism to watch. And did I mention the giant robots and giant monsters?

The premise of PACIFIC RIM is simple: for years, giant monsters called kaiju have been emerging from another world through a portal at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to attack our planet. The governments of the world have set aside their differences to institute the jaeger program, where nations build impossibly giant 200-foot-tall armored robots to fight the kaiju when they appear and force them back from coastal cities and into the sea before destroying them. So far, the program’s been a success. But as the kaiju attacks have grown more frequent and the kaiju themselves increasingly larger and stronger, the world’s leaders -- without any sense of history or France’s Maginot Line -- have opted instead to focus on construction of enormous “peace walls” along the Pacific coasts to keep the monsters at bay. Of course, the jaeger pilots and their commanders know better, and it becomes a race for them to stop the kaiju attacks before the jaeger program is defunded and the world’s safety left to the coastal walls.

PACIFIC RIM’s action is fast, furious, and *huge*. It’s spectacular in scale and full of those moments when the whole audience actually cheers out loud for the heroic fighters protecting the cities in their massive, armored colossuses. It’s fun, and it’s as much about friendship, family, honor, and duty as it is fighting monsters, making it a great movie to take the kids to (only one scene of a young girl who finds herself alone in the streets as the sole survivor of a kaiju attack that still isn’t over might be troubling to very young or sensitive children).

It’s the most fun I’ve had at the movies in a long time. And don’t wait for the DVD -- the scale of PACIFIC RIM demands you see it on the biggest screen you can see it on. (unless you don’t like giant robots vs. giant monster movies. In which case, why are you still reading this?). Go for the fun. Go to see the heroes take on the giant monsters for us. Like they did for us when we were kids.

[knight errant00]

My review's up at my author page.

[Confessional]

I went solely for mindless [sic] fun and the art direction/design. Fun was had and the design work was derivative but killer… however the narrative flaws, really predictable character bits and western-hero ending were too hard to ignore. I'm putting it in the "such potential" genre... whereby the stage was set for impressive wowness, but alas, it's 2013 and we are mess, both in and out of the theater.

Related, I was also hoping for an alternate version of destructOpron; namely suburbia in the middle of a bright sunny day. Yes, I want to see monsters in all their monstery goodness destroy bad urban planning and lots of stucco.

As you can imagine, I'm let down a lot by Hollywood.

[palitoy]

The room was full of energy and even the Charlie Day parts were awesome. He and Ron Perlman did it for me.

Heh, yeah they were a great combination, which isn't really a shock. Perlman is pretty versatile and Day is good at what he does.

[ctc]

>Maybe the (crap) Transformers movies had a negative effect on people, and they decided to skip Pacific Rim?

Nah; people like the same old same old. Everyone complains about "Hollywood is SO out of ideas" but they STILL lose fluids HUGE when a new film with a familiar character is announced. "I hope they get *inser popular actor* to play him! AND *insert popular director* to make it!" You'd need a major breakthrough, or a product REAL similar to what folks already know to have a non-tie-in hit.

Don C.

[Gorn Captain]

I'm embarrassed that plop like Transformers makes a billion dollars and something that is so much better crafted (not to say that it's War and Peace but it's a good yarn) and fun, is not the number one movie in the world.

That's exactly how I felt.
Maybe the (crap) Transformers movies had a negative effect on people, and they decided to skip Pacific Rim?

[SeattleEd]

Saw it yesterday as well and loved it. Fun when people are cheering when the jaeger kicks kaiju arse! The room was full of energy and even the Charlie Day parts were awesome. He and Ron Perlman did it for me. Love the whole female pilot bit. Worked for me and is favorite character hands down.

Took the kids to see it yesterday, everybody loved it. I'm embarrassed that plop like Transformers makes a billion dollars and something that is so much better crafted (not to say that it's War and Peace but it's a good yarn) and fun, is not the number one movie in the world.

I will say though, I'm tired of watching cities being laid to waste, even the one comedy I've seen this year (This is the End) had it. The rest of my summer movie watching will have a "no explosion" rule.

Also, it's so rare and refreshing to see Charlie Day yelling in something.

[Random Axe]

^^^THat's destruction porn. Every meteor, comet, missle, giant freakin laser, giant space ship, lava eruption, nuclear bomb, giant monster attack and Michael Moore film always has to lay waste to a major city or landmark. The Earth is pretty big. The odds of everything hitting Paris, DC and London in every movie are pretty remote. I understand the need to pull in an audience by making these things happen in a familiar setting, but please stop blowing up the White House, Golden Gate Bridge, that giant London Ferris wheel thing, the Hollywood letters, the Redeemer statue in Brazil, the Eifel tower and the Chrylser Building. Start blowing up, crushing, disentegrating, razing, annihilating and generally effing up stuff like accordian factories and mime schools. Then you could get cheers from the audience in addition to shock and awe.

[palitoy]

Took the kids to see it yesterday, everybody loved it. I'm embarrassed that plop like Transformers makes a billion dollars and something that is so much better crafted (not to say that it's War and Peace but it's a good yarn) and fun, is not the number one movie in the world.

I will say though, I'm tired of watching cities being laid to waste, even the one comedy I've seen this year (This is the End) had it. The rest of my summer movie watching will have a "no explosion" rule.

Also, it's so rare and refreshing to see Charlie Day yelling in something.

[Gorn Captain]

Just saw it.
I could watch it again today...because I loved it!
This is what Transformers should have been. The fights are awesome, with the "robots" and Kaiju bashing into each other, you can really feel the "crunch" when they impact.
If you are a fan of Anime, it should trigger a lot of "oh yeah!" reactions, even the music reminds you of Anime.

The CG is amazing, I was totally into it (which is rare for me). Yes, there are lot of scenes that are in the rain and water, but it's appropriate to the action. These are water beasts, so it fits.
The movie has the typical Del Toro humor in it, and Ron Perlman is a lot of fun (I want his shoes!). Don't forget to wait until the last titles, because there's a little extra scene at the end.

Did I mention I loved it?

[madmarva]

I thought it was fun, but the ending is reminiscent of Avengers, which was reminiscent of Independence Day and so on.

[kingdom warrior]

I saw it loved it......what's not to love Robot vs Giant monster Win!

[Access]

Well, I am a real jerky critic when it comes to certain styles of movie, and ill say that I liked this film! It was in a simple word ..... Fun. It also touched (extremely brief) on things that I liked, such as the entire globe was in a brutal depression/recession due to the events, and how soon humans forget about major events. The tech was really cool, the Kaiju were neat, and they even had a cool backstory. There was just enough human element, but they kept it focused on the central task. Oh well, anyways, that's just one mans perspective! Lol

[Earth 2 Chris]

It's not doing too well. Beat by Grown Ups 2 and Despicable Me 2, which has been out for nearly two weeks.

Chris