Pacific Rim is a 2013 U.S. science fiction film directed by Guillermo del Toro, written by del Toro and Travis Beacham, and starring Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Rob Kazinsky, Max Martini, and Ron Perlman.
The film is set in the 2020s, when Earth is under attack by Kaiju: colossal monsters which have emerged from a portal on the ocean floor. To combat the monsters, humanity unites to create the Jaegers: gigantic humanoid mecha, each controlled by two pilots whose minds are joined by a neural bridge. Focusing on the war’s later days, the story follows Raleigh Becket, a washed-up Jaeger pilot called out of retirement and teamed with rookie pilot Mako Mori in a last-ditch effort to defeat the Kaiju.
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“But straight monster-on-robot action accounts for less of the film than you might hope, and the action is distended with all kinds of solemn character journeys, laugh-free comedy figures, lumbering set-pieces, tiresome sub-Christopher Nolan innerspace adventures, unzinging dialogue, and really little of the imaginative and visual flair that Del Toro has shown in the past.” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“Between them the combatants lay waste to so much urban landscape that you wonder what will be left to preserve. The cast is a three-way tussle between po-faced general Idris Elba, bland flying ace Charlie Hunnam and haunted rookie Rinko Kikuchi. A mood of macho solemnity predominates, the telltale sign of a movie deaf to its silliness.”
Anthony Quinn, The Independent
“Pacific Rim continues to astound throughout with spectacular battles that display incredible special effects with wonderful clarity. Often films burdened with excessive digital effects can be alienating, but del Toro and his effects team give each Jaeger a battered look and mechanical steam-punk feel that gives personality to each moving part of the giant metal punching machines.” Cameron Williams, The Popcorn Junkie
“Del Toro does these creations and the action involving them no favors by shooting so much of them in virtual close-up (It’s especially a chore to follow the movie’s climactic match on the ocean floor with three monsters that look identical). Too often the clashes become a cacophony of blurry motion (3-D is no help) and thunderous noise (accompanied by Ramin Djawadi’s brassy score).” Mark Dujsik, Mark Reviews Movies
