Pacific Rim

[Nick Danger]

Just took this one in this afternoon and I was pleasantly impressed. I had heard that it was just eye candy, the usual Hollywood formula parade of special effects and explosions but in fact it does have a fairly decent story-line to it. No profound spiritual revelation by any means, after all it is giant robots fighting giant space-alien monsters, but it's a pretty good effort. This one is way too big for your living room, catch it on a big screen if you have the option, even go for the 3D option if available. Don't leave too early like I did, there's afterbits in the ending credits.

 

[Cliffy]

Just took this one in this afternoon and I was pleasantly impressed. I had heard that it was just eye candy, the usual Hollywood formula parade of special effects and explosions but in fact it does have a fairly decent story-line to it. No profound spiritual revelation by any means, after all it is giant robots fighting giant space-alien monsters, but it's a pretty good effort. This one is way too big for your living room, catch it on a big screen if you have the option, even go for the 3D option if available. Don't leave too early like I did, there's afterbits in the ending credits.

Afterbits? Is that like naughty bits but without the naughty?

 

[spaminator]

Mock-serious tone plus fantastical look pushes Pacific Rim into blockbuster territory

By Bruce Kirkland ,QMI Agency

First posted: Thursday, July 11, 2013 12:00 AM EDT

Pacific Rim is all about heroic humans fighting off evil aliens to try and save Planet Earth from destruction in the 2020s.
I know, we have all seen versions of this story before. Many times, in fact. We have even enjoyed old-school, low-tech variations of what Pacific Rim has to offer, including the tall tale of Godzilla and friends.
These are the giant reptilian monsters who clumsily crushed cities underfoot in Japanese monster movies after WWII. That does happen in the high-tech, up-to-date Pacific Rim, with mutant dinosaurs erupting from a rift underneath the Pacific Ocean and attacking cities with deadly purpose.
But there really is something different this time around, and it is not just the sophisticated special effects.

Mexican master Guillermo del Toro of Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth fame is the director and creative mastermind behind Pacific Rim.
That means this movie is going to look gorgeous. That means that even the routine disaster story will have extra layers of humanity, some of that del Toro oomph and twisted humour. That also means Ron Perlman will have a role, this time in a crazy cameo as a sleazy but funny black market trader who specializes in the body parts of dead aliens.
While I am not enamoured about the story concocted by Travis Beacham (Clash of the Titans) -- nor about the screenplay he and del Toro cobbled together -- there are other elements in play here. The provocative mood and the mock-serious tone, plus the fantastical look of the movie's epic action scenes, combine to push Pacific Rim into blockbuster territory.
In addition, the casting is excellent. Del Toro assembled the right faces and voices, even if none except Idris Elba has a major scene that demands more than the right physical pose or action. Other notable players are Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Burn Gorman and even David Richmond-Peck in a brief appearance as Canada's United Nations rep.
Elba portrays the inspirational leader of an international military operation set up to defeat the aliens. Facing a shutdown because the aliens are winning the battles and the war, Elba sets up one last line of defence in Hong Kong. He assembles the best he can muster from around the world, among them Americans, Russians, Chinese, Japanese and Australians. He sends them into a desperate struggle that few will survive.
The humans fight in giant robots run by two or three-person teams who mind-meld for control over the sophisticated electronics. Despite the advanced technology, these machines are still brute force fighters that wade through the ocean like the Colossus from the 200-year-old painting attributed to Goya (and which influenced del Toro).
The storyline revolves around one psychologically damaged warrior (Charlie Hunnam) whom we see in action in the prologue, five years before the main action. Fighting an alien dinosaur, Hunnam's Jaeger robot is severely damaged and his co-pilot killed. The victim is Hunnam's brother. Hunnam's journey back is a long one -- and that is what counts as psychological drama in an action movie.
I do not want to fool you. Pacific Rim is a BIG action picture.
It is loud and violent. It might even remind you of the first Transformers movie.
But it is also unique -- and entertaining -- because of Guillermo del Toro's touch.

bruce.kirkland@sunmedia.ca

Mock-serious tone plus fantastical look pushes Pacific Rim into blockbuster territory | Movies | Entertainment | Toronto Sun

 

[Johnnny]

This movie was alright in my books, it was way better than the last two transformer movies.....

 

[SLM]

Afterbits? Is that like naughty bits but without the naughty?

Kind of. Also less dangly than naughty bits, they're more tucked in tight at the end. Lol

An example would be the shawarma scene from The Avengers.

For those that don't remember a shawarma scene from The Avengers, you didn't watch it long enough.

 

[Nick Danger]

For any that hung around for the afterbits in Cloud Atlas there was a great piece where they showed all the actors that played multiple roles and the characters they each played. That was great. I'm not so quick to make the dash to the parking lot these days as when I do I invariably miss something cool.