With Pacific Rim Uprising opening soon, we decided to revisit the original from acclaimed director, Guillermo Del Toro
Pacific Rim takes parts of Transformers and Godzilla in this big-budget creature feature which sees Earth having to create large robots called Jaegers, operated by 2 pilots, to fight the onslaught of large Kaiju, monstrous sea creatures.
The film opens with a Jaeger operated by 2 brothers, fighting a Kaiju which despite a win, one of the brothers is killed in action. The surviving brother, Raleigh (Charlie Hunnam) has found his world falling apart. This is in part that to operate a Jaeger the pilots have to share a bond, which has seen him reliving the death of his brother over and over.
Raleigh, now working on a large wall which the government has chosen as a new defense to stop the Kaiju as they believe it will be more cost-effective than funding the Jaeger programme.
However, the commander of the Jaeger project, Pentecost (Idris Elba) continues to believe in this form of defense and continues to run it without the government funding and seeks out Raleigh to bring him back, due to his experience.
After rejoining, Raleigh finds his Jaegar is now an obsolete model, and is considered an outsider by pilots of the newer models, especially Chuck (Robert Kazinsky) however Chuck’s father, Herc (Max Martini) has nothing but respect for him, knowing he managed to get his machine back to land, on his own despite losing his brother.
As Raleigh struggles with the potential pilots forms a bond with Mako (Rinko Kikuchi) a survivor who lost everything to the Kaiju. She was rescued as an orphan walking the streets by Pentecost and he is reluctant to let her become a Jaeger pilot. However, she clearly is the best person for the job!
2 Scientists Newton (Charlie Day) & Herman (Burn Gorman) who study the anatomy of the Kaiju believe they have found a way that they can finally will the war against these creatures, provided they can get one of their brains.
This will see Newton have to deal with a Kaiju parts dealer, Hannibal Chau (Ron Perlman) but if successful, he can test his theory to defeat the creatures one and for all (at least until the sequel =)
Will Newton find the answers he needs; Can Raleigh and Mako form a successful team and can the Jaegers finally defeat the Kaiju once and for all, we suggest you check out Pacific Rim to find out the answers.
This really is a good action creature feature, albeit like many blockbusters it could have been a little shorter. The action sequences are spectacular, the battles of Kaiju v Jaeger and the damage they cause are great.
The cast do well given the nature of the movie but Day & Gorman are exceptional, offering the film its better comedy moments and Pearlman is a great underground parts dealer. We certainly enjoyed this film and will definitely check out the sequel.
Watch the trailer here:
Find the film at Amazon here:
Official Website for the sequel
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