"Pacific Rim" (12A)
Director: Guillermo del Toro.
Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba,
Charlie Day and Ron Perlman.
Rated: 12A for containing, frequent
moderate violence and one use of strong language.
Running time: 131 minutes.
Out now in UK cinemas.
Set in the near future, beneath the
pacific ocean; a portal opens which lets large monsters (called Kaiju) invade
the mainland and wreak havoc upon its citizens. Soon, war breaks out and when
mankind seems to be on its knees, a turn in the war occurs and the
"Jaeger" program is launched. Two pilots mind`s combine to fight,
within robotic machines that could be humanities last hope of survival.
Guillermo del Toro. The man responsible
for some of Cinema`s most abstract and challenging pieces. He began his career
with short films and gradually worked his way up into larger productions, his
first being "Cronos". Since 2004, Del Toro has left the abstract
films and moved into more mainstream films like "Hellboy1+2" and
"Blade 2"; but never forgetting his flair for the art in his
sets.
He then moved back in 2006 to the fantasy
genre, with "Pans Labyrinth". A film set during world war two, which
follows the story of a young girl who instead of wanting to grow up, becomes
fascinated with the existence of fairy tales. "Pans Labyrinth" was
received well by the majority of critics. "Hellboy 2: The Golden
Army" then followed and was met with praise on the film`s special effects.
The idea for "Pacific Rim" has
been in development since early two thousand and six and was passed from
company to company, proving that "Pacific Rim" had to be of a certain
standard. A popcorn movie. Del Toro was not pleased and the project was dropped
from Universal Pictures; but was eventually taken up by Legendary pictures.
"Pacific Rim" is undoubtedly a
largely enjoyable spectacle, that is clear. What isn`t clear (unfortunately) is
some of the scenes including the Kaiju. Most of the scenes take place in the
night time and it is fairly hard to make out who is fighting who at many points.
If a sequel is going to go ahead, then my only advice would be to show more
action sequences during the day.
The acting is surprisingly good. Charlie
Hunnam is a terrific actor, who has showed us his ability in the much loved
series "Sons Of Anarchy" (in which he plays Jackson Teller). Here, he
is put in a role suited to him in which he shines. Idris Elba takes a step back
from his serious career and has chosen to perform a role that can be serious,
but requires little effort from the star of BBC One`s "Luther" but is
still engaging to watch. Rinko Kikuchi, a star of many independent films, has
finally had her chance to show her skill in acting and break away into a more
mainstream film and acts well.
The special effects are a joy to watch.
After the success of the "Transformer" trilogy, films on large scales
had to be improved and "Pacific Rim" has achieved just that. Legacy
effects were hired and had worked on projects similar to this before.
In conclusion, "Pacific Rim" is
an enjoyable popcorn film, which has brains, wit and a fair few decent fight
sequences. Improvement on the night sequences would be appreciated, but if
"Pacific Rim" has a sequel similar to this; I think I`ll be willing
to watch it.
4 STARS.
Written by Scott Gentry.
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