Sunday, July 28, 2013

pacific rim [2013]

i could not let the summer pass without seeing this flick.  c'mon!  kaiju and giant robot kaiju slayers piloted by two humans synced to not only their machines but to each of their minds that they call 'the drift'.  all this and directed by guillermo del toro who is nothing but a drooling genre fanboy underneath that bit of hollywood veneer. 

and yet. . .and yet. . .the movie lacks any emotional anchor with little to no chemistry between its characters.  the dialogue is horrid and the motives of the two main characters who pilot the jaeger [skyscraper tall robots that is designed to do combat with the monsters], raleigh becket, played by charlie hunnam, and mako mori, played by rinko kikuchi, is, well, the force that drives the green fuse thru the flower.  not really.  both lost loved ones to the kaiju and both suffer deep wounds because of it.  but the script lacks heft for such weighty moments.  the quiet scenes between becket and mori, while very few, because this pic has lots of bang, are unfocused and without any intimacy.

still both pilots 'drift' well with each other and it is without surprise that by the end they become boyfriend and girlfriend.  why not.  i mean, after saving humanity from giant creatures with a set purpose to wipe out humanity and its cities, what else can the heroes do but kiss.  oh dear, did i give the ending away?  seriously.  if you don't know how this flick will end then you probably were not going to see it anyway.  for we humans not only survive, we are plucky, we kick ass.

this film is a fanboy/fangirl's wet dream.  i grew up on ishiro honda's godzilla movies.  i'm not the biggest fan of the kaiju genre but with del toro at the helm and with today's special fx count me in.  i took nick with me this afternoon to see this flick at the local imax.  the movie was in 3d too and tho 3d is not my favorite sort of fx it suited the subject matter quite nicely even if the glasses muddied the lighting and made the quick editing cuts a blur.  even with 3d as a viewing limitation, and i do think 3d is a viewing limitation, the movie is a fun throwback to summertime matinees.  next viewing will be without 3d and the giant imax screen.  who knows if this movie will become a cult favorite.  i've read it was a box office failure.  too bad.  considering all the crap onscreen this summer i feel a bit lucky in that the movies i've seen, all two of them, world war z and pacific rim, do what summer movies are meant to do, take you out into a pulpy otherworld and entertain you for the space of two or three hours.  

4 Comments:

At 7:35 PM, Blogger Simple Theories said...

My own reaction to this movie resembles yours. I note the fails and give me a breaks, then admit that it all took me in. For myself, I liked the actors, but maybe because I couldn't, except for Perlman, attach them to other work. Surely if I knew Charles Hunnam played Rachel's boyfriend in season 7 of Friends, I might have reacted differently. The brief explanations of the "science" of this flick works perfectly. Of course there are other dimensions, let's get on with the plot.

 
At 10:10 PM, Blogger richard lopez said...

hi allen:

didn't know hunnam was on FRIENDS. kikuchi was in BABEL which i've seen but kinda forgot about.

science in this movie was rather wonky but for such a sci-fi epic this viewer said, what the hell.

silly movie but a whole lot of fun. just like honda's classic kaiju flicks.

 
At 7:18 AM, Blogger TED BURKE said...

The film was pretty much as success for me in all departments; del Toro is one of the few directors who gets comic book inspired movies just right , achieving a credible balance between characters, premise, action. I suppose there are many who are disapointed that there is not more of an emotional connection with the heros and heroine of this flick, but for me it's a relief and view as almost obligatory that they be 2 dimensional. Their tensions, attractions and personal issues were established credibly enough to add to the anticipated excitement of the upcoming battle. del Torro, in my view, kept it moving very nicely, smartly. As with his work on the Blade and Hellboy movies, del Torro is efficient without seeming chintzy, elaborate without being bloated. He is a first rate action-fantasy director and "Pacific Rim", artistically, is another success for him.

 
At 9:49 PM, Blogger richard lopez said...

hi ted:

agree with you 100% regarding del toro as a magnificent director. i thought PAN'S LABYRINTH was an extraordinary movie and HELLBOY as one of the best adaptations from a graphic novel.

his PACIFIC RIM may not plumb the depths of those previous movies but del toro has created a wonderful summer action film.

 

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