The University Daily Kansan
Monday, July 15, 2013
Page 11
Del Toro's 'Pacific Rim'a monstrous marvel
Guillermo del Toro's visually stunning monster mash-up "Pacific Rim" plays like a radioactive love letter to old Godzilla movies, mecha anime and the awesome, child-like joy that comes from creative destruction. In a summer beset with endless sequels, prequels and reboots, this is an atomic breath of fresh air: a whiz-bang Saturday morning cartoon brought to dazzling, cacophonous life by the ultimate fanboy made good.
Equal parts futurist fantasia, drive in creature feature and gobsmacking action ballet, "Pacific Rim" takes place in a world where skyline-leveling leviathans called kaiju (Japanese for "strange beast") routinely rise from an interdimensional rift in the Pacific Ocean and lay siege to Earth's major coastal cities, including Hong
Kong and San Francisco. Faced with the threat of imminent extinction and unwilling to use nuclear weapons near such heavily populated areas, the nations of the world ban together to create the Jaegers (German for "hunter"), an army of giant robots, each controlled by two pilots linked by a "neural handshake" that enables them to act in perfect unison.
The plot, a heady brew of "Top Gun" and "Mobile Suit Gundam," focuses on disgraced ex-flyboy Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam from "Sons of Anarchy") and his quest for redemption after the traumatic death of his older brother/co-pilot Diego Klattenhoff). Steely-eyed General Pentecost (end-of-days motivational speaker Idris Elba) sees great potential in the damaged
young man and, after the requisite rigmarole, pairs him up with the program's star pupil Mako (Rinko Kikuchi from "Babel"), a gifted warrior who has seen her own share of tragedy. The rest of the movie plays out as a euphoric tribute to man-insuit monster movies and the legions of children they helped to inspire (including the lifelong Godzilla fan writing this review).
This should probably go without saying, but filmgoers expecting the dark, melancholy genius of del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth" and "The Devil's Backbone" may be disappointed by what they find here. There's plenty of heart, but not much in the way of depth or complexity (the movie is about giant robots fighting giant monsters after all, not the death of childhood innocence
in Fascist Spain). "Pacific Rim" is more comparable to the Mexicanauteur's "Hellboy" films, mainstreamfantasies bolstered by superior creature effects and a visionary'seye for set design (the film's actioncenterpiece takes place in a HongKong rebuilt around the skeleton ofa fallen kaiju).
Jaw-dropping visuals aside, the movie should be commended for its skill at avoiding some of the melodramatic pitfalls that dog the eyeball-straining, intellect-draining films of Michael Bay and Roland Emmerich. First of all, there's no pointless, shoehorned romance between Hunnam and Kikuchi's characters, only a gradually established professional friendship. There's also a merciful lack of brooding ant-heroes, ponderous flashbacks and ham-fisted social commentary."Pacific Rim" is escapist entertainment, pure and simple, arguably the best of its breed since the original "Jurassic Park" lumbered into theaters.
Another strength is del Toro's impish sense of humor, which lightens the mood without diluting the emotional stakes. Much of this stems from the yappy, excitable Dr. Newton Geiszler (Charlie Day from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia")
a self-confessed "kaiju groupie" who believes he can forge a neurological connection with a brain-damaged sea monster, much to the chagrin of his simpering lab assistant Gottlieb (Burn Gorman, somehow channeling Crispin Glover and John Hurt simultaneously). Ron Perlman, del Toro's longtime friend and collaborator since 1993's "Cronos," also earns some well-deserved chuckles as Hannibal Chau, a black marketeer who traffics in kaiju organs to afford his 24-karat wardrobe, including a set of gold-plated teeth and shoes.
All in all, "Pacific Rim" is a rare and wonderful beast: a sci-fi opus with a custom mythology whose appeal seems readymade for all age groups. I would love to see it spawn a few sequels (and maybe a cross-over with Legendary's forthcoming "Godzilla" reboot), but nothing is guaranteed when you're dealing with an original, unproven property, especially in the middle of a season built on the promise of the safe and familiar. No matter the box office result, one thing remains certain: Guillermo del Toro has made the most ferociously entertaining movie of the summer.
FINAL RATING: