Sunday, July 14, 2013

MOVIE: Pacific Rim

I have been waiting for a movie that features giant robots all of my life; but this movie not only delivers awesome mechs, it also features giant monsters, which borrow inspiration from icons like Godzilla, that threaten all of humanity, and throws machines and monsters into a cinematic showdown of epic proportions. 



Directed by Guillermo Del Toro, who is known for movies such as Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth, Pacific Rim is about the invasion of inter-dimensional creatures known as Kaiju (Japanese for "Giant Beast") that arrived through a portal beneath the Pacific Ocean. After conventional military weapons prove to be inefficient, the nations of the world pool together resources and construct giant mechs known as Jaegers (German for "hunter") to fight the Kaiju. There's more to the story but that is the basic premise behind Pacific Rim, and I'm not one to spoil things.

This was the first trailer released. I got so HYPED off of it!


For a film that lots of people are dismissing as just a stupid block buster, assuming that those same people ON THE INTERNET aren't just a bunch of trolls, this movie is actually very good! 

"Oh, but the story is going to be so stupid.": It's a film about giant robots beating giant monsters to death; what more do you need? 
"The science won't add up or match up to happens in real life!": It's a movie about BIG ROBOTS AND MONSTERS; if that stuff could exist we would have seen it already. 
"The acting isn't good": Sure, the acting might not be the best or win any Oscar Awards, but it certainly doesn't take away from the product over all. Bad acting won't make the fight scenes any less enjoyable.

I'm kind of worried now that some people just don't know how to enjoy something good that is right in front of them.

This trailer reveals a lot more, but doesn't spoil too much.

I can't really say that this movie is the best thing ever made; it's not perfect, nothing ever really is. It could have been better, but it is still so good! In my opinion, Pacific Rim is better than all three of the Transformers movies combined. The biggest problem I have is that for some reason not many people are excited for this as I have anticipated. And for reasons unknown, Pacific Rim's main competition is Grown Ups 2. How many of you guys grew up watching Power Rangers? I'll admit, I didn't like Power Rangers as much as most kids back when I was young, but I always thought that the Mega Zords were cool. How many of you watch mecha anime? Oh, right, the trolls are too busy comparing Pacific Rim to Neon Genesis Evengelion for anyone to actually care about it being something new and a movie of it's own.

Guillermo Del Toro grew up watching kaiju films and mecha anime, not including Neon Genesis Evangelion. While he certainly took inspiration from the shows and movies he watched and also implemented homages that knowledgeable fans of the genres can recognize, Del Toro stated that he wasn't going to reference anything and that the designs for his Kaju and Jeagers are created for his own movie. In a time when people are complaining about nothing being original or that something is just based off of something else or that the movies coming out are simply film adaptations of books, people are failing to accept Pacific Rim as an original franchise, a title that stands completely by its self. Del Toro crafted this film from his heart, so that he can see something that he loves and show it to the rest of the world. I admire him for that, but I'm disappointed that the rest of the world doesn't appreciate it. Instead, the robots are competing against an "All-Star Cast of comedians" and apathy.

For some reason, Coyote Tango was the least to leave an impression on me.




With three arms and one eye, Crimson Typhoon had one of the most eccentric but original designs.






















Striker Eureka, compared to the other Jaegers in terms of stats, is completely over powered.
















Gypsy Danger with a simple and charming heroic design brawls with the Kaiju to protect earth.

Initially I wasn't too fond of Cherno Alpha's design, but after watching the film I grew really attached to him.
 

I really like the music that plays for the main trailer...

The first thing that I heard about this film was that "The voice of GLaDOS is in this movie." That same evening I checked out the original trailer which was the only one at the time and I knew I was going to watch this movie. Ellen McLain, the voice actor for GLaDOS from the video game Portal, lends her voice for Gypsy Danger's computer AI. I saw Pacific Rim in IMAX 3D; it was the first time I've seen a movie in that quality, but for what I paid it was worth it! Whether you're a seasoned fan of Kaiju films or Mecha anime or just like the idea of seeing a movie about giant robots and monster, you are going to love this film. With the amount of work, effort, and love put into this movie, Pacific Rim is definitely worth seeing it on the BIG screen!