"Pacific Rim" Talkback (Spoilers)

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Release Date: July 12, 2013
Studio: Warner Bros./Legendary Pictures
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi

Plot Summary (From IMDB): As a war between humankind and monstrous sea creatures wages on, a former pilot and a trainee are paired up to drive a seemingly obsolete special weapon in a desperate effort to save the world from the apocalypse.

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Now, this is how you do giant robots the right way. Anyone who's a fan of old-school giant robot anime (which this film is sort of a love-letter to), old-school Japanese giant monster movies, both, or just likes the idea of giant robots beating the shit out of giant monsters should go see this movie.

The plot is full of cliches, but its also self-aware of them and is well-structured to keep the pacing of the movie flowing naturally, unlike the Transformers movies which go absolutely nowhere for a majority of those films. The action scenes are amazing, and unlike most summer blockbuster movies these days, you can actually tell what's going on most of the time. The characters are archetypes, but they also have clear and distinct personalities to them which make them entertaining beyond just serving their purpose for the plot. There's a lot of stupid liberties and abuse taken with the laws of physics in this movie, but its meant to bring out the inner-child in you and scream at how awesome the whole concept is, so its easy to forgive that stuff.

Personally, this is my favorite summer movie so far. Star Trek: Into Darkness was entertaining, but had a shitty ending and was also tried a bit too hard to be dark n' edgy to a fault, IMO. Iron Man 3 was good but I still don't feel its as good as the 1st movie, and as it stands, while I enjoyed the movie plenty, I have had no real desire to re-watch it again right away like how I did with The Avengers. Pacific Rim is the type of movie that I want go see again with some friends just for how much "fun" it is. And yeah, it really reminded me of how much I was missing the sense of "fun" with so many high-budget summer blockbuster movies in the past few years, with most of them gearing a bit too much towards being darker and grittier (The Avengers from last year was another exception, of course).

I'm not going to say that this was a great movie by any means, but it was insanely entertaining, and I feel that I got my money's worth. I'll also say that its one of the few movies that I'd actually say works really well in 3D, as I'm honestly not a fan of the gimmick, but it was used to great effect in this film.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I'm hoping to see this film sometime this week. Both of the movies I've seen this summer, Monsters University and Star Trek Into Darkness, were a lot of fun even though I did have some minor problems with them, so I'm just hoping this is another fun movie as well. Plus, it's got giant robots, and I dig giant robots. 

[Lord Il]

I can't add much more to what Ensatsu-ken has stated.

If you like seeing giant robots beating the living hell out of giant aliens (and vice versa), just go and see this movie. Have fun with it for what it is.

[Daikun]

I just saw it today with my dad.

The writing is REALLY REALLY cliche and predictable, so don't expect any deep plot, dialogue, or characters. The whole thing was created for spectacle. If that's what you're in the mood for, you'll enjoy this.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

One thing I'll sort of defend is the character archetypes, in that I always thought they were intentional in this case. Much like an old-school anime, the characters seem to fit into simplistic archetypes that you would find in that sort of medium from any classic anime series. So to me the characters were meant to fit in with the stylistic choice of the movie. That said, you could still make more interesting characters even if they follow archetypes, so on that note I'd say the film certainly could have done better, but as it stands I found the characters likable and entertaining enough to hold my interest between the action scenes.

As for the writing and dialogue....yeah, its about as cliche as you can get, with the generic speeches and all. I have to admit that its easily the weakest aspect of this movie, and normally I'd really go hard against the movie for it, but I also have to say that these were well-executed cliches, in that they didn't end up making me role my eyes in boredom or anything like that. I always knew exactly where the movie was going, but thanks to the general style and "personality" that this movie had to offer, I was able to still find a lot to enjoy on screen at any given time.

[Lord Il]

I found the characters likable and entertaining enough to hold my interest between the action scenes.

Agreed. I found they got just the right amount of character development to make me want to care about the key characters; Nothing too deep - just enough to get the job done. Good character development is so important to make such a story come alive and be enjoyable.

Spoiler for movie ending

I'm so damn glad that the main two protagonists didn't get all kissy-face at the end of the movie. Their mutual hug after all they went through was more than enough to convey the joy of their victory.

[close]

[Peanutbutter]

I love the movie. The pilot who lost his brother, his lady sidekick, the General and the scientist who went out and about with Ron Perlman were all fun characters. I didn't care that much about Ron Perlman's character in this though. I think that whole B-plot could have been nixed or done differently. I also didn't like that Australian jock guy, though he did at least redeem himself near the end.


Overall, I enjoyed it (as did two of my friends, and they're not what you would call geeks either  ). My dad mentioned wanting to see it and that he'd pay, his paycheck is this week so I may take him up on that this weekend to see it again.



A couple of little things though, as far the overall narrative around the Internet, I don't like that so many calling this "original". What? Just because a movie is an amalgam of all the best alien monster movies and fighting robot stories doesn't mean its original. No, its not a sequel, reboot or adaptation, but come on. Like I said I like the movie, but that just bothers me a bit.


Also, I think this post on The Mary Sue is the best I've seen about why the movie didn't do as well as hardcore geeks wanted.

Since I have a passing interest in box office, and movie marketing, I'll take a stab at speculating why it's under performing.

The marketing, for the most part, focused on the things which appealed to young children and geeks, and general audiences were left behind. Many of use were sold on Del Toro's name, and the premise of monsters vs. robots. For the majority of audiences, why should they care? General audiences just weren't interested, because the mere sight of robots and aliens, or Del Toro's name, just wasn't an incentive. Where were the humans in the marketing? Where are the people that audiences should care about?

It wasn't until the 15th poster for the film that we actually saw our three main characters. By then, it was too little, too late. Again with the film's trailers. Remember a few weeks ago when we got the trailer which was much slower and more contemplative? That trailer was great, but it was too little, too late, again. Had they begun the campaign with those characters, things may well have been different.

Anyway, great movie. Glad I saw it opening weekend.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Animated series and sequel in development.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

YES and YES! This property totally has franchise potential. I want to see more creative and varied Kaiju and Jaeger designs in the animated series and sequel.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Guillermo del Toro is in negotiations with japanese studios to animate the Pacific Rim animated series. The series will primarily focus on a new cast of characters and an overarching storyline, and is currently planned to be 13 episodes long.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I smell a franchise trying to blossom. Hopefully it all works out. The first movie is by no means a masterpiece, but it's a fun concept that has a lot of potential, and it was refreshing to see a fun Sci-Fi action movie that didn't take itself too seriously and try to be all dark and gritty just for the sake of it, while at the same time never reaching Michael Bay levels of stupidity in regard to a lack of restraint.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Please pick a studio with a good writer.

Marvel never got by that one issue with their anime.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I assume that the series will be written and storyboarded by a team directly hired by del Toro, and just the animation will be done by whichever studio they choose.

[Daikun]

He should pick Studio Trigger.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

He should pick Studio Trigger.

I could dig that.