Monday, July 15, 2013

Pacific Rim

I feel like I’ve seen Pacific Rim before. When I was a kid, I adored a TV show called Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. During the climax of many of that show’s episodes, a group of teenagers would morph together, collectively forming a giant robot (or… Zord), and fight a giant, alien beast in the middle of a city. This is, more or less, in Pacific Rim. I used to watch a giant lizard beast named Godzilla rip apart mostly Asian cities for no reason. This is, more or less, in Pacific Rim as well. In Ivan Reitman’s Ghostbusters, there’s a subplot involving Rick Moranis’ character, in which a beast from another planet stalks him in hopes of making him “The Keymaster.” More or less, in Pacific Rim. And in Independence Day, Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum conclude their cinematic duties in a way that felt very similar (i.e., identical) to the characters in Pacific Rim.

So, essentially, I found Pacific Rim to be a mash up of various lame-to-good science fiction outings. And believe me, if I noticed these (me who doesn’t exactly swoon for the genre) then I’m sure sci-fi buffs noticed many more. But here’s the thing: director Guillermo del Toro knows this. He’s aware of all these references contained in his film. He’s aware because he’s a smart, talented filmmaker, and Pacific Rim is his modern throwback.
Make no mistake, Pacific Rim is pure popcorntainment. The plot: Robots vs. Aliens. The scale: fucking massive. In addition to the familiar scene scenarios I’ve described, much of the dialogue in this movie feels like it was penned by an excitable little boy, sitting directly in front of his television on Saturday morning, nabbing lines from his favorite cartoons. Which is, again, exactly the kind of man I think Guillermo del Toro is. And please, that is in no way meant as an insult. Del Toro has always been frank about how he chooses to explore his vision. Cinematically, he needs ghosts, ghouls, Hellboys, aliens – any fantastical element to propel his narrative. Thus far, he’s done a rather decent job (or, in the case of Pan’s Labyrinth, a masterful one).

And while I like to think I know where Pacific Rim comes from, and why, that doesn’t necessarily make the movie fully worth it.

I could nit pick. I am baffled that a $190 million dollar movie (more if you include the millions for marketing) with amazing special effects, doesn’t take the time to let the wind created by a landing helicopter move an umbrella being held by a young woman on the landing deck. Or how, on more than three occasions, I noticed how completely unsynchronized dialogue audio was from the speaker’s mouth. I could keep going, but what’s the point? The targeted demographic for Pacific Rim are people who like to see bombastic action porn. If it’s a little smart, that’s a plus. And in that regard, I feel their needs will be well met.
This isn’t a bash. I actually enjoyed a lot of Pacific Rim. I enjoyed its very focused narrative (the bulk of the film takes place over a quick 24 hours). I enjoyed its action sequences (despite their utter lack of master shots, and aversion to day-time battle), and I enjoyed how much of the cast seemed to be in on the tone. (Sorry, one shortcoming: star Charlie Hunnam has a God-awful American accent in this movie, and I must ask, why have him play an American at all? Why not let him keep his native English voice, thereby relieving the audience of chuckles everytime his character says a word with a vowel in it?)

For fans of giant, action, sci-fi romps, there’s a lot to like in Pacific Rim. For others, well, there’s a lot that may have you checking your watch, repeatedly. I respect and admire the talent and vision of Guillermo del Toro. I have since his debut feature, the Mexican vampire film Cronos. If he’s going to make a movie, I’m going to see it, and I’m certainly going to enjoy at least some of it. Now that he has Pacific Rim out of his system, I’d love to see del Toro scale back and make something smaller, wholly original. That’s certainly not something you’d hear me complain about. C+ 

36 comments:

  1. Good review Alex. I will agree with you on that it isn't all that original and a bit stupid at times. I felt like the movie also dropped the ball on a talented cast, one that you don't usually see with a mainstream blockbuster like this. However, I will admit that I had fun watching the monsters and robots beating the heck out of one another. That much was exciting. It's just that when the film scales back to the characters, it begins to fall apart.

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    1. Hey Dan, thanks for the comment man. Seems we're in full agreement here. I enjoyed the action scenes as well, but I obviously had some issues with the film. Not great, but certainly not bad.

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  2. For me, this was everything I want a big, popcorn "blockbuster" movie to be. It was fun, exciting, not overly long (in the sense that it's not over 2 and a 1/2 hours long - near 3 hours) and just engaging. I grew up watching anime and fighting shows (power rangers) and hearing that Del Toro took influence from these sorts of shows as well as manga just totally appealed to me. I thought Charlie Day and Ron Perlman were downright hilarious, I was able to get over Hunnam's accent after a while, and Elba is awesome as always. I didn't have the problem with the unsynced audio you did either. Sure, the story was pretty simplistic and predictable but I could get past it just because the spectacle of the whole thing kept me engaged more than any other summer "blockbuster" this year. Blockbuster obviously being more of a relative word here, but I digress. I will concur that it isn't his best work, but it's damn fun if nothing else.
    I hear the next few projects Del Toro is involved in are actually on a much smaller scale with his next film actually being more of a character piece so... yeah, gonna be great.

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    1. This one just fell right in the middle of the road for me. I'm glad I saw it, but I wouldn't rave about it. Action scenes killed, really enjoyed them. Also appreciated its somewhat brief running time. But at the end of the day, it will never be more than a summer action blockbuster that I doubt I'll recall often. Oh well, just the way it goes.

      That's good news about his next project, I'm really looking forward to those.

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  3. I'm still going to see this film in the coming weekend as I'm a huge fan of Guillermo del Toro. I know what he's aiming for and that's fine. Hearing him on Mark Kermode last Friday makes me enjoy the guy even more as he simply just wants to make a movie that the 11-year old kid in him wanted to see.

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    1. I think die hard fans of del Toro will definitely see his stamp here. I didn't hate it, but I haven't thought about it since seeing it. Enjoyed my time while I watched it though.

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  4. I'm seeing this soon, so I'll come back and read your entire review afterwards. A C+ isn't encouraging, though. Del Toro is hit and miss, but I hope he doesn't disappoint me this time.

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    1. I hope you dig it. For me, C+ isn't really bad or good, it just kind of is. I liked it in the moment, but will never have a reason to hold it in high acclaim, you know?

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    2. Haha. I tweeted something similar to your opening paragraph, mentioning MMPR and Godzilla. And I hadn't even read your review yet.

      I'm with you on this one. I wanted to like it, but it just had too many problems. I'd also love for del Toro to do something small and original for his next film. That would really interest me.

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    3. Ha, that is funny. Glad we're in line here. A fun film, but not much else. Yes, please, something small next!

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  5. hmmm i'm not sure why del toro is forgoing substance for candy appeal these days, but this sounds fun, if anything.

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    1. Ha, me either. But it's definitely fun. No doubt.

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  6. I saw the trailer for this movie with my son (age 14), who seemed like the ideal target audience for something like this. His only comment was, "It looks too much like __________" (A video game -- I forget which one) That kind of jives with what you said in your review ... been-there-done-that sci-fi entertainment.

    I am a huge fan of some of del Toro's movies (Pan's Labyrinth, The Devil's Backbone). And this does sound like good fun. :-) But I can definitely wait for this to come to DVD.

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    1. I think I would've preferred to see it on DVD. Even though the action scenes were badass in the theater, this is definitely a DVD kind of movie for me.

      That's so funny that your son said that. So very true.

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    2. James does have a way of cutting through the BS and getting to the point. :-) I definitely respect that. The kid is awesome.

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    3. Ha, that IS awesome. Cut right to the heart of things.

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  7. This is definitely a very unoriginal film - it's just chock-a-block full of references, whether it's particular shots, plot elements, characters etc, from everything from Voltron to Neon Genesis Evangelion (and, uh, other stuff not featuring giant robots). I really enjoyed it, but it's definitely not aiming for anything revolutionary! The action sequences really captured that sense of immensity that you want from films like this (and was lacking from, say, Transformers, where the robots ultimately felt like they were toys, appropriately enough).

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    1. We're right on here. Not the most original film, but it certainly wasn't trying to be. I had a lot of fun with it too, and yeah, compared to something like Transformers, Pacific Rim is Citizen Kane.

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  8. Honest take, Alex. You know, it's weird, and I hope I explain this right, but while I don't give grades for my reviews I think a C+ is really accurate for this one. Yet...while it was unfolding in front of me I would have given it B-, maybe even a straight B.

    I"m not so sure how I feel about the term popcorn movie but that's exactly what Pacific Rim felt like to me.

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    1. Once again, we agree 100 percent here. While watching it, I liked it more than I do now. I definitely won't deny that it was fun, but really nothing more to me.

      I also don't like "popcorn movie," but that really is the best way I could think to describe it. Maybe it's a lazy phrase. Who knows.

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  9. Oh man, I simply can't be bothered seeing this one, it doesn't interest me in the slightest. Seeing so many positive reviews gets me close to seeing it, then reviews like this from people who's taste I agree with!

    I'm positive I'm going to just sit there and wait for it to finish the whole way!

    Still considering whether I give it a shot :) haha. Nice review Alex.

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    1. Thanks man! Believe me, I know exactly where you're coming from. All I can offer is that I found it fun (for the most part) in the moment, but afterwards... meh. I cannot recommend that you pay $15+ to see it though.

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    2. I have a double pass to see it so I guess that's the tipping point. Will let you know what I think, maybe I will enjoy it!

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    3. Look forward to your review. Hope you like it!

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  10. Loud, check. Simplistic Characterization, check. Formulaic story, check. Have I had a better time at a 'blockbuster' in years, nope... I see that I probably should concentrate on the peripherals, story, characters and plot, but damn if you grew-up watching Toonami's Giant Mecha Anime, and to a lesser extent the power-rangers like you mentioned, this is a love-letter to you as a fan. That all being said I feel that two grades are necessary, B-/B like you, as a strict film critic, but A if you grew up like me playing with giant robot toys. This is probably the best film adaptation that Mecha anime lovers will ever get, Del Toro delivers faithfully to the fans of the material he's working in, it's unfortunately a rarity nowadays.

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    1. Yep, I fully agree with you. I never watched Mecha, but Del Toro is clearly paying homage to things like that. There's no arguing that it was fun, which made for a pleasant experience, no doubt.

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  11. I was struggling through this movie with both boredom and constant eye-rolling on my part but when I got to Elba's final scene I just couldn't believe my own eyes.

    For me the only good scene that had some emotion (and had the movie been like that it would be awesome) was the flashback scene with little Mako. In the end the film was only marginally better than Man of Steel for me.

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    1. Yeah I was definitely bored for a lot of it. And the dialogue was so eye rolling, I couldn't help but laugh. But the action did entertain me. I personally thought Elba was very underused.

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  12. If anything let me down it's Charlie Hunnam, which kind of surprised me. The action and design were top notch. I really just wanna see del Toro make At The Mountains of Madness. Great review!

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    1. Thanks man. I felt Hunnam was a bit of a disappointment as well. But really, I can't name too many action lead star characters that are written extremely well. They're all kind of one-note.

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  13. Pacific Rim is kind of a way to say 'fuck you, Michael Bay', because his Transmorphers films are awful, but Pacific Rim was fun. It's like the way a popcorn flick should be approach (the Batman and James Bond films don't count as popcorn flicks). I've seen just Hellboy 1 & 2 (which I totally loved) and Pacific Rim from Guillermo, but I'll watch really soon Pan’s Labyrinth and The Devil's Backbone. I'm really excited for Crimson Peak. I'm totally with the fact that he makes an entertaining action flick to make money before he makes a great small stand alone film. And looking at this year horror films Crimson Peak might be the best. I might make a profile for Guillermo, just because I loved Hellboy so much (it's the perfect blend of fun and dark that can have a superhero film without being silly).

    "Cinematically, he needs ghosts, ghouls, Hellboys, aliens – any fantastical element to propel his narrative." Okey, but Scorsese needs the ambitious criminal main character with short temper whose pride is ultimately his downfall.

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    1. I'm really excited for Crimson Peak as well. Pan’s Labyrinth is a masterpierce, never seen a film like it. And The Devil's Backbone is a great little horror flick. Highly recommend them both.

      Well said about Scorsese. Keep in mind though, I wasn't criticizing Del Toro's narrative choices, just pointing them out, you know?

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    2. Yes, but I always like the ambitious criminal main character. It's a trademark.

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    3. I've seen Pan’s Labyrinth, and it was fantastic (you don't use the word "masterpiece" so often so I was already hooked). It's funny how Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo del Toro decided, all three, to make their masterpiece in the same year. I'm really curious about Crimson Peak because Cuarón won the Oscar for Gravity in 2013, Iñárritu won the Oscar for Birdman in 2014, it can happen to del Toro as well. It's not like the Academy never nominated a foreign director for a ghost story film.

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    4. I love that they all made great films in 2006 as well. That was so cool when that happened. And that would be insane if Crimson Peak had as much Oscar success as Gravity and Birdman. We shall see!

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    5. Gravity is sci-fi and you know how much the Academy loves sci-fi (not at all), and Birdman is a comedy and the Academy doesn't award comedy so much. There's a good chance that if Crimson Peak is great it will be nominate (it will for sure be nominate for art direction, cinematography, score, makeup, special effects and, maybe, acting).

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