Pacific Rim (Guillermo del Toro, 2013) Review

Who wants to see giant robots fight against giant aliens?! I knew you would considering how awesome that would be. It's the only reason I went to see it because we haven't had a good giant robot/alien movie in a while (didn't see Transformers so....that doesn't count) but I was also intrigued by the lack of A-list cast members. Well then, let's take a look at Pacific Rim...the name makes perfect sense in context, I can assure you.

In the near future, a rift has opened up under the Pacific ocean in which giant aliens known as the Kaiju emerge and begin attacking civilization  To counter this, the humans have created giant two-manned robots known as Jaegers. One of the pilots, Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam), is injured in a fighter against a Kaiju and struggles to make it back to civilization  5 years later, Raleigh is called back to the Jaeger program by Marshal Pentecost (Idris Elba) as they may have found a way to close the rift and stop the Kaiju forever. 

I love the cast of this film. Idris Elba delivers his usual great performance that was one of the best things abut Prometheus, Charlie Day gives a surprisingly good performance especially coming after Monsters University which works well with Ron Perlman's memorable role. Also, making Ellen McLain the computer voice was genius (I was smiling every time I heard her voice). It's clear that Charlie Hunnam is a new actor (even more evident since Raleigh gets side-lined half way through before being brought back). It's just good to see actors like Ron Perlman being brought into a film that a lot of people are seeing (or...not since in America it was beaten by Grown Ups 2...ouch). 

The main reason I saw this was for the action and I was not dissapointed. The film does an excellent job of making the Kaiju and Jaegers look real by giving them weight and structure. You can feel every punch thrown and it's satisfying to say the least. The complex designs of them also looks great on the big screen and I'm glad I caught the last showing. When this comes to DVD, I'm sure it will lose something but, for now, it looks fantastic with great action sequences. I'm also glad to see an action film that doesn't take itself too seriously. It's free to add some pretty funny moments in there and I admire that. It's great to see a Hollywood blockbuster where the American accent is the odd one out (I'm sick of these 'AMERICA SAVES THE WORLD' films) and it's nice to see that the Kaiju crisis is a world wide thing.

If you take your brain to Pacific Rim, you'll probably just think it's a mindless action movie but if you allow yourself to be brought into the world of the film, you'll find an enjoyable action romp with some great acting, a pretty good story that was actually unpredictable at times (I didn't know where it was going...even if the ending did remind me of some of films...and games). It's just great to see something new for once (please tell me this is original...just let me have this!)

Verdict:
8/10
A fun film that allows itself to add some jokes against the great action and memorable acting.

And please stay for the credits. Everyone in my theatre left as soon as it went black. There is a scene in the credits....and I'M THE ONLY ONE THAT SAW IT!