American Jaeger Gipsy Danger becomes humanity's last hope in "Pacific Rim". Photo courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
Tired of seeing supernatural and otherworldly forces destroy cities and threaten humanity in movie theaters? Neither are we! But even if you think you’ve had enough of apocalyptic disaster movies this summer, you owe it to yourself to see Guillermo del Toro‘s Pacific Rim. Sure, in the hands of just about anyone else this movie would likely have been another big summer action spectacle with giant robots fighting enormous monsters with explosively appeasing visuals, but little plot to hold it up. But with del Toro at the helm, Pacific Rim pays homage to the Japanese kaiju and mecha movies of the ’50s and ’60s while bringing refreshingly new sci-fi concepts to the screen.
A massive Kaiju wreaks havoc on Earth in "Pacific Rim". Photo courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
Set in the near future, Pacific Rim centers around an alien invasion coming not from outer space, but from a portal that has opened in the floor of the Pacific Ocean. The creatures that emerge from this other dimension wreak havoc throughout the surrounding areas, forcing humanity to stop fighting each other and unite to fight off this global threat. The only successful answer to the Kaiju threat is the Jaeger, a massive nuclear-powered robot that is able to fight off each new monstrous threat by using advanced weaponry and brute force. Because the neurological load is too much for one person to handle, it takes two people to pilot each Jaeger. And in order to stay coordinated the two pilots must be able to successfully drift, which is basically a cool way of saying they have to have really, really good chemistry because they’re going to be sharing their thoughts, memories and a telepathic connection with each other in order to function as a singular unit.
Robert "Kurrgan" Maillet and Heather Doerksen are Russian Jaeger co-pilots in "Pacific Rim". Photo courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
Familial ties obviously make such a deep connection a little easier to achieve, as is the case with Raleigh (Charlie Hunnam), an accomplished and cocky Jaeger pilot who loses his will to fight after suffering a crippling loss during battle. But as the Kaiju’s become bigger and stronger, and the decision is made from higher up to decommission the Jaeger program, Raleigh is recruited back to the cause by Stacker (Idris Elba), the commanding officer looking to make one last effort at saving the planet. Raleigh reluctantly agrees, then is re-inspired upon meeting Mako (Rinko Kikuchi), a female rookie with whom he feels a mysterious bond that drifts (pun intended) beyond simple romance. Stacker assembles a squadron of the world’s top Jaeger pilots (including former WWE competitor Kurrgan, who plays an imposing Russian pilot) to do battle with the ever-evolving Kaijus, now coming through the portal in pairs.
In the meantime, Dr. Newton Geizler (Charlie Day) and Dr. Hermann Gottlieb (Burn Gorman), a couple of bumbling scientists obsessed with all things Kaiju, figure out how to drift with a Kaiju, which not only provides the knowledge necessary to close the portal, but also provides the Kaiju with somepsychic insight into what we have planned for them. In order to find out even more about the Kaiju dimension, these scientists are referred to Hannibal Chau (Ron Perlman), a snazzy-dressing black market trader specializing in goods derived from fallen Kaiju. Though this subplot provides some comic relief to the otherwise impending doom, it also provides information that becomes crucial to winning the war to save the Earth.
Raleigh (Charlie Hunnam) and Mako (Rinko Kikuchi) become unlikely drifting partners in "Pacific Rim". Photo by Kerry Hayes.
While purists might be wary of watching Godzilla-like monsters fighting Ultraman-like robots without the use of rubber suits and miniature cities, Pacific Rim utilizes computer technology in a way that makes these battles seem surprisingly realistic (and even more massive if you see it in IMAX). Though I admit to having a soft spot for seeing giant robots fighting giant sea creatures, del Toro is able to provide such spectacles without being completely outlandish and implausible. In fact, even with only a slight suspension of disbelief, Pacific Rim is a pretty believable sci-fi adventure that is massively realized and enjoyable in multidimensional ways.