Pacific Rim Review

Picture a giant robot, easily matching the height of the skyscrapers, walking down a Hong Kong street with a cargo ship in it's hand ready to be used as a weapon, all of this taking place while medium paced rock music is playing in the background. This is Pacific Rim summed up in one description. It's exciting, it's tense, it's the summer blockbuster we've all been waiting for.

In the future, aliens are found to be living under the Pacific Ocean, and with recent attacks on cities around the world, the human race has to do something about it in order to survive. Their means of fighting these giant sea creatures known as Kaiju's is by building giant man-powered robots known as Jaegers. The film follows the story of Stacker Pentecost (played by Idris Elba) and his team's mission to destroy the breach in which the Kaiju's are entering the world.

The first point that needs to be made when discussing this film is the absolutely incredible use of computer generated images. The majority of action scenes in this film are created through the use of CGI, and where this can take away the realism in films where it is not pulled off so greatly, Pacific Rim shows just how brilliant the modern technology can be when it is used with caution and great effort is put into it. Both the Jaeger's and Kaiju's are a spectacle to watch, the stern, robotic Jaeger displaying the capability of modern technology whilst the agile and viscious Kaiju showing the power of the animal world. The fight scenes are interesting and have the audience on the edge of their seat, perhaps due to the fact that we care about the pilots inside the Jaeger, controlling its every move.

Although the CGI is brilliant, it does not make the film, with the script, written by both Travis Beacham and Guillermo Del Toro, being strong enough to stand above the computer effects. We are just as invested in the emotions of the characters, sympathising with the conditions they are living in and the sacrifices they have to make as we are with the fun and visually epic fight scenes.
One thing that surprised me regarding the script was how beautifully written the romance between Raliegh and Mako was. I often find in action movies that the romance is usually pushed aside and only given the smallest thought, with producers often believing that the market for big budget action movies is men who want to see fighting and men being.. manly. The fact that the writers of the film chose to dedicate time to the romance, letting the relationship build naturally and not fearing allowing the character's emotions decide the fate of many of the film's vital scenes gives me hope for the future of films in the action genre.

The performances given be Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi & Charlie Hunnam were stellar. This film was perfectly cast, with Elba portraying an authority figure who is torn between keeping someone he loves close to him or risking their safety for the greater good, Kikuchi playing a troubled yet skilled pilot out for vengeance against the Kaiju's who killed her family & Hunnam performing as an emotionally traumatised pilot who saw and felt his own brother's death. The characters are well-written and the acting only adds more depth to some complex and interesting characters.

The film boasts some of the best computer generated effects I have seen on screen and combined with the funny, dramatic and energetic plot, this film is a standout in summer releases for me. With Del Toro once again proving that he is a visual genius, I can assure you that this film will feature on many people's top films of the year list.