Big-budget summer action movies always toe a fine line with critics. It’s as if we expect these movies to be huge, cheesy, nonsensical eye candy and, usually, we’re right.
But sometimes huge, cheesy, nonsensical eye candy is exactly what we need. Pacific Rim may fit that billing but, with constant director of awesomeness Guillermo del Toro at the helm, I’m betting on good, amazing fun with a brain.
The premise of Pacific Rim is simple. Giant monsters called Kaiju (“strange beast” in Japanese) have arrived to Earth from a portal beneath the Pacific Ocean and begin to wreak havok on humanity. To combat these monsters, human create assault robots just as big as the monsters. These robots are mentally piloted by two humans in virtual reality outfits, and seem to be outside of the robots’ bodies, acting out kung-fu moves to throw punches, missiles and large transportation vessels at their enemies.
Press Summary:
Directed by Guillermo del Toro, Pacific Rim is an epic science fiction film set in the 2020s. Earth is at war with Kaijus; colossal monsters from an inter-dimensional gateway on the Pacific Ocean floor. Humanity unites to fight these huge monsters by creating the Jaegers: gigantic humanoid robots that are controlled by two pilots whose minds and memories are linked. The story takes place in the later days of the war, following Raleigh Becket, a former Jaeger pilot called out of retirement and paired up with newbie pilot Mako Mori in a final effort to defeat the Kaijus!
Pacific Rim comes to Blu-ray and DVD October 15th.