Pacific Rim

In an age where movies has been so hyped up and seemed that the limits has been reached comes another film that features robots and monsters. It has been done a lot of times, but what makes Guillermo Del Torro's Pacific Rim stand out from other films? How would it surpass Transformers: Dark of the Moon? Well, for starters, Del Torro has more passion with his craft than Michael Bay.

The film opens with a definition of what a "Kaiju" is, making us feel ready of what kind of monsters we are about to face. The film did not waste our time on how the monsters desolate some of the key cities which are located in the Pacific Ring of Fire. The involvement of Manila would somehow generate a loud buzz from the audience (yikes!) but it did not show how Manila was destroyed. Going back, we are directed to the solution of the Kaiju problem and transported us a few years forward to see how we are doomed yet again. The Jaegers are mechas controlled by two individuals who will share each others mind to make the machine work together. In this process, both individuals will share memories and work in perfect unison. What the humans do not know is that the Kaijus are not even done in exterminating us. The plot thickens.

Involved in this quest is Raleigh who was once a pilot but marred by the death of his brother and co-pilot during a mission. He was recruited back by his commanding officer, Stacker Pentecost to be part of the government initiative turned resistance army to combat the Kaijus. There he met Mako and becomes his new partner for Gypsy Danger.

Pacific Rim is Del Torro's tribute to Japanese' movie and television icons. Viewers will probably relate to the themes and Del Torro knows what he is doing. The movie justified Japan's beloved icons such as Ultraman, Godzilla and the Gundams. Aside from these themes, Del Torro injected his usual formula and one can be familiar with recurring themes seen in his previous films such as Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth. The battle scenes are not awkward and it was not just junk clinking against each other. Watching the film on 3D enhances the experience and it was not hurtful to the eyes.

Most of the actors are not well known except for some notable ones such as Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Rinko Kikuchi (Babel), and Charlie Day (Horrible Bosses). The leads performed well despite their unknown status as actors. However, the best performance goes to Mana Ashida as the young Mako with her rich expression for a child at her age.

Pacific Rim may be an eye-candy but it was a good sort putting Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon into shame. Del Torro's gothic style, modern technology and great storytelling meshed up perfectly and gives the audiences the feeling of involvement which somehow made the film effective and enjoyable.

GRADE: A-

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