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Pacific Rim: Another View by Rob Milarvie

Director: Guillermo Del Toro

Prior to this film I was fully intending to see huge sky-scraping machines hurdling enormous punches towards impeccably large creatures, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. It offered this and something more, a beating heart and a grip upon the human soul and spirit leaving the viewer mesmerized at the spectacle and just uttering one word: Wow.

This new feature is the most recent instalment from Mexican director, Guillermo Del Toro who directed the legendary Pan’s Labyrinth and the more noticeable Hell Boy & Blade II. He has been most credited and acknowledged for depicting fascinating narratives combined with artistic creatures, and this follows this set pattern but having one distinct component; it’s a blockbuster!

The film begins with a narration illustrating the start of the apocalyptic events and the terror of these huge Kaiju beasts from another dimension. The narrator states the idea of ‘looking up at the stars and thinking if life is up there’ but having another passage to our world being accessed. I found this intriguing, as Guillermo inversed the stereotypical narrative constructs that consist of aliens and dimensional monsters, therefore instigating a sense of originality for the film.

Now, this film is not the best film you’ll ever see admittedly, but for the opportunity to witness something of this magnitude that proves to the world that we don’t have to suffer through tedious Michael Bay’s interpretations of fighting robots. This feature truly captures the phenomenal power of these Kaiju & Jaeger beings and how their weight is truly felt by the audience throughout the fighting sequences. Guillermo stated in an interview with Simon Mayo on Radio 5 Live that he wanting to captivate the image and atmosphere of these robots being ‘walking buildings’, and how during they’re fights he wanted to enhance the ‘shock absorbing motion of the robots and the synergy of that much mass moving in every hit or blow or movement’.

Plus, as I saw this 3-D and being a huge fan of the format anyway, as I find wearing two pairs of glasses somewhat discomforting, it did deliver to a pleasing extent. I was cautious as 3-D has the capability to miniaturise the image on the screen which Mark Kermode addresses in his The Good, the Bad & the Multiplex. However, the weight and greatness of the robots and monsters was still felt and somewhat enhanced the spectacle.

Moreover, after the interesting beginning setting the apocalyptic scene, the audience are dropped straight in to the global situation and how the humans have adapted to the terrorising inter-dimensional beasts. So with this we are introduced to our protagonist, British actor Charlie Hunnam (Green Street) who is a pilot of a Jaeger and through a series of incidents drifts into the slaughtering lifestyle of the commoner. The casting of Humman was rather peculiar as he not an A-List star that is usually recommended and used for these blockbuster type movies. But perhaps with the inversion of the narrative, it was somewhat induced into the casting arena.  However he plays the role very well and epitomises the human soul and spirit and that ‘never say die’ feel that runs exponentially throughout the narrative.

Furthermore, there is another British actor in the film’s midst, in the being of Idris Elba who plays the general behind the Jaeger programme and initiates all Jaeger attacks against the Kaiju. Idris is absolutely brilliant and displays a clear role of authority within any encounters he faces and gives a hair-raising speech that a Mr Bill Pullman would be envious of. In addition, the Japanease actress Rinko Kikuchi plays Mako, who has to participate in the ‘drift’ with Humman, to which she acts impressively, displaying a sense of innocence and fear that most people would feel in her shoes.

Finally, this feature has a sustainable heart throughout with a culmination of very good acting and immaculate set pieces. Guillermo Del Toro really did frame this motion picture brilliantly with a realistic approach of how monsters of this magnitude would move within relative speed, but still containing ultimately some of the best action fighting sequences I have ever witnessed. The film worked brilliantly with Guillermo Del Toro showing he can depict an apocalyptic blockbuster and still sow in his own genes of artistic quality into the narrative.