Pacific Rim - Spoiler-free review

Entry posted by Nathan Strum · July 24, 2013

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Movies

How do you write a spoiler-free review about a movie that is completely predictable and exactly what you expect it to be?

Beats me, but I'll give it a shot.

Pacific Rim is live-action anime. If you're at all familiar with anime, you'll know exactly where this movie is going at every turn. But really, that's the whole point. It's supposed to be an homage, tribute, rip-off or love letter to anime. More to the point, if you don't get anime, you probably aren't going to get this film either.

All of the clichéd characters are present - the hero with a troubled past (Matt Damon Charlie Hunnam), the tough-but-cute girl with a troubled past (Winona Ryder Rinko Kikuchi), the gruff-on-the-outside but heart-of-gold commanding officer (Louis Gossett, Jr. Idris Elba), the egotistical rival (Val Kilmer Robert Kazinsky), the goofy comic-relief scientist (Sam Rockwell Charlie Day), the cartoonish tough-guy (Ron Perlman Ron Perlman) and so on.

The movie is about humans using giant robots to fight giant monsters. What more do you need to know? It's Godilla meets Robotech plus Independence Day. The characters are two-dimensional, the dialogue silly (when it's not stilted), and the whole movie is overblown, illogical and completely, totally ridiculous.

It's also the most fun I've had at the movies this summer, precisely because of all of those things. Pacific Rim has no pretentions of being anything other than what it is. It's a big, epic, fun, silly popcorn movie, with absolutely first-rate special effects, great action (Michael Bay should take notes - this is how The Transformers should have been made), and awesome tongue-in-cheek giant-robots-vs.-monsters anime moments that deliver exactly what they should, when they should. I'd tell you more, but that would require invoking spoilers. Still, if you need some convincing to go see it... how about:

giant telescoping swords, elbow rockets (Yes!!), a gratuitous Newton's cradle, Ron Perlman with a butterfly knife, and some subtitled Japanese dialog (although it could have used more).

Pacific Rim is certainly light on plot, script, and acting (the actors frequently slip in and out of heavy Australian accents), but the movie revels in what it is. It delivers what it promises, without wasting 3/4 of the movie on some boring set-up. It takes just a brief couple of minutes at the beginning to get all of the backstory out of the way, and then drops you right into the action.

If you like anime, or giant robots, or special effects epics, or just big, stupid, fun movies, check it out. With an extra-large, greasy bucket of popcorn.

Pacific Rim gets an 8/10.