We’ve attached a 3-1/2 minutes ‘featurette’ instead of the usual trailer, so readers can get a fuller idea of the production than what everybody has probably already seen in the trailer and TV ads.
Or, so you can just watch the featurette and save yourself the price of a movie ticket.
Come on now, let’s remember that Guillermo del Toro is the same director who gave us the brilliant Pan’s Labyrinth.
Not to mention Blade II!
We wish the man, and his movie, well.
Well enough to get Mountains of Madness off the ground, but not well enough for Pacific Rim II.
Ike–summarize.
Pacific Rim follows the adventures of a boy and his jaeger as he and an elite team of giant-robot fighters make a last stand to save the planet from city-stomping monsters from a trans-dimensional portal in the Pacific Ocean. Basically, it’s Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidora meet Transformers.
‘Trans-dimensional portal’–nicely done! The film stars Charlie Hunnam, as Raleigh, the jaeger fighter with a past, Rinko Kikuchi, as Mako, the wanna-be jaeger fighter with a past, and Idris Elba, as commander Stacker Pentecost (!)
(!)
A former jaeger fighter, who has a past with Raleigh, a past with Mako, plus a past of his own that causes him to have lots of nosebleeds and carry a tin of Altoids.
Plus a few other people with other pasts or issues guaranteed to cause lots of HIGHLY DRAMATIC PERSONAL CONFLICT.
None of which is very interesting, and most of which just gets in the way of the only real reason to see this movie, which is the monster fights.
Which were freakin’ AWESOME.
Yeah, except for the stupid parts, and the parts where you couldn’t tell what was what.
I was completely lost during most of that last fight. Which one had the sword, and which one got his arm yanked off?
I think that was the same one.
Didn’t both of them have nuclear bombs? I couldn’t figure out why it was the broken one that had to go in the hole.
Yeah, I’m not sure anything about this movie would hold up to logical scrutiny. Why was it that missiles and nukes and giant swords worked against the monsters only if they were deployed by robots? Some of the fight stuff had a definite pro-wrestling vibe to it.
So did some of the acting, but considering the lines they had to deliver, I’m impressed the cast was able to keep a straight face. Except for Ron Perlman, of course. He seemed to be in on the joke. Otherwise, it was grim going.
I almost wept for joy when Charlie Day showed up. His character brought welcome relief.
But we agree that the standout in the cast was little Mana Ashida as Young Mako. She was fantastic–the only one who could steal the scene from the monsters.
I hope casting directors were paying attention, because that girl really brought it. With all the faux emotions flying around, her scenes were the only ones that really made me feel anything.
Oh, I felt something during other scenes, but I won’t say what.
So, to sum up, if giant monsters fighting giant robots sounds cool to you, go see Pacific Rim. But if you require a storyline, characters, and dialogue that operate above an eight-year-old level–
Rent Pan’s Labyrinth.
Our Review:
Fantastic special effects.
Wooden acting, but minor roles stand out.
Tedious ‘dramatic’ scenes.
Focus on the popcorn and the fights.
No jagermeister jokes!
Two tail-wags out of five.
ikeandmikeblog 
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