Guilty Pleasures #28 - Pacific Rim

So… I’ve just finished watched a show where giant robots were fighting off an alien invasion. Voltron: Legendary Defender the new Netflix Dreamworks series that tries to be Avatar: The Last Airbender in Space. I’ll save my thoughts on the show for another review but what am I watching today.

A movie where giant robots are fighting off an alien invasion. I was going to reference how both of these shows seem to have a very Power Rangers feel to them but then I found that Voltron actually pre-dates Power Rangers. But then Super Sentai, the Japanese show that Power Rangers uses stock footage from predates GoLion which Voltron used stock footage from so… I’m going off topic here.

Pacific Rim was released in 2013 making $411m off it’s $190m budget being successful enough for a sequel to be on its way, it’s been in development hell for some time. It’s received reasonable reviews with a 64 on MetaCritic and 71% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Well, this seems good, let’s take a look.

After we get the definitions of Kaiju and Jaeger from their respective languages, we open with some narration. A portal to another world open within the Pacific Ocean, inviting aliens (the Kaiju) to the surface. One came to San Francisco and destroyed the Golden Gate bridge because of course it did. It took the military 6 days to take it down and by that time it had destroyed 3 cities with 10s of thousands of lives lost. Forgive me but the destruction of 3 cities, that’s a tad low.

6 months later another arrived and then another and then another and people began to realise this was not going to stop. The entire world put aside their differences and pooled their resources to combat this threat.  They created the Jaeger programme. Neural controlled robots that required 2 pilots to work because it would overload one pilot’s brain. They had a share of victories and became global icons with toys, merchandise, all that sort of stuff. Available in some online store somewhere, I’m sure.

Then it all changed… And we cut to the 7^th year of the war where 2 guys are awoken by a Kaiju alert. These are Raleigh and Yancy Becket, brothers. Their Jaeger is nicknamed “Gipsy Danger,” I’ll just let that sink in for a moment.

Yeah… that’s really its name…

Moving on. These two weren’t the best or brightest in the class but they can hold their own, and they’re drift compatible, whatever the f*ck that means. They get dressed into their futuristic space suits enter the head of the giant robot, getting connected up to it. It’s dropped onto the main body so they can go out and kick ass, of course this is the beginning of the movie so we know that’s unlikely.

OK, so the drift is a kind of mind connection between the two pilots so they can strategize more effectively and build a bond with the machine. They’re told to hold off a Kaiju in the Alaskan Coastline, there’s a boat out there but they’re told to ignore it as the Kaiju is heading towards a city of 2 million.

Gipsy Danger arrives and counter to their orders gets the boat out of their way, they punch the Kaiju a bit, eventually hitting it with a Plasma cannon. But command informs them too late that the Kaiju is still alive, it destroys the arm with the plasma cannon and begins ripping open the hull, grabbing Yancy. Raleigh somehow copes with the mental strain of the robot and lands a finishing blow on the Kaiju.

The highly damaged Jaeger makes it back to shore where he’s greeted by two people I don’t care about. Raleigh crawls out, heavily injured from the fight and barely able to hear. He passes out. Isn’t it convenient how that didn’t happen when he was piloting the damn thing.

We cut to 5 years later where the UN are announcing that the Jaeger programme is no longer a viable option in the fight. With the frequency and scale of attacks increasing, the Jaegers are being destroyed faster than they can be built.

Marshall Stacker Pentecost asks for one final chance to stop the assault but the UN considers the coastal wall programme a more viable option. They’ve been recalled to a base called Shatterdome in Hong Kong where they will continue to be funded for 8 months whilst the coastal walls are completed. OK, how about a small bet. If the coastal walls don’t turn out to be completely ineffective, I’ll put £5 in my charity jar.

Since building the walls is apparently the only job that exists now, job security is very minimal. 3 people died working the top of the wall yesterday and the boss appeals to the crowd, who Raleigh is among, for new people to work at the top. Work continues at the wall and we get a news report that a category 4 Kaiju just broke through the coastal wall in Sydney. Guess I’m keeping that £5 then. That was quick. One of the Jaegers eventually managed to destroy it with its chest missiles. One of the pilots, Chuck Hansen, blames mediocre pilots for previous failings but insists orders are orders and they have to retreat to Hong Kong as well.

Meanwhile, Stacker lands by the wall, having found Raleigh, he says they’ve found Gipsy Danger and he’s the only type 3 pilot alive to be able to pilot it. He gives a riveting speech which convinces Raleigh to come along.

We cut to Hong Kong, home of the Shatterdome base. A woman, the only person on site with an umbrella greets Raleigh and Stacker as they arrive. She’s Mako, the head of the type 3 restoration programme, she’s also Japanese in case you need reminding that this idea has been done before in several Japanese shows.

We also meet Dr. Gottlieb and Dr. Geiszler, who are researchers looking at remains of the Kaiju, they’ll be our comic relief for this movie. They only have 4 Jaegers left so things are pretty f*cked for the human race. Crimson Typhoon, piloted by the Wei Tang brothers. Three triplets using a triple arm technique against their enemies. Cherno Alpha, the oldest and heaviest of the Jaegers, but equally deadly. Piloted by Sasha and Aleksis Kaidanovsky, who Raleigh has heard of thanks to them helping defend a wall in Siberia for 6 years. Striker Eureka, the only mark 5 and the one we saw in Sydney not that long ago piloted by father-son duo Herc and Chuck Hansen. 

They have a plan, to seal the breach with a cr*pton of nuclear weaponry they acquired through the Russians. You remember the whole 100 nukes into space thing in Kill the Moon, this is equally as dumb in terms of fuel efficiency. But unlike Kill the Moon, there’s no guarantee this would work.

Our scientists reveal with the increasing rate of the attacks, it will not be long before multiple Kaiju come through at once, however Gottlieb believes that once that happens, the breach will be stable enough to pass through. Geiszler doesn’t agree and thinks that finding out weaknesses by initialising a drift with the Kaiju brain piece they’ve collected might yield them more information. Stacker thinks it’s too dangerous it shoots his idea down.

Mako takes Raleigh to a newly restored Gipsy Danger. Raleigh asks what Mako’s story is and it’s revealed that she has a decent record simulating a pilot and wants to become one but Stacker has reasons for her not to be among the potential candidates for Raleigh’s partner. She doesn’t think he’s the right man for the mission because he takes risks that endanger himself and his crew and deviates from conventional combat techniques. Are you kidding me?

You need to be able to change it up from standard techniques, becoming predictable to an enemy that studies you is a death sentence! As for taking risks, well, you are about to detonate a thermonuclear bomb in the middle of the ocean in the hope of sealing the breach, if that isn’t a risk that endangers people I don’t know what is.

She stares at him with his shirt off, hinting at some sort of romantic connection between the two. That’s sudden and out of nowhere. The next morning, Mako tries to convince Stacker to be among the potential candidates but she has a mind for revenge and it’ll overwhelm Raleigh. They go in and out of speaking Japanese at this point.

In the canteen, Chuck shows that he’s an asshole who thinks he’s better than everyone else. Next scene, it’s the trial session and Raleigh is kicking the asses of everyone sent up against him. He asks that Mako enter with him and after some taunting, Stacker allows it. She’s far more evenly matched with him and it ends up a 4-3 win for her (based on strike count) but Stacker still refuses her to be his co-pilot.

Raleigh tries to convince Mako to ignore him but, out of respect, she does not. As Stacker descends in an elevator, his nose starts bleeding and he takes a tablet. In the wake of the Sydney incident, many people have begun to protest as people are being drawn inland to “safe zones.” Meanwhile, Dr Geiszler goes against orders and initiates a drift with the brain. Stacker visits Mako and tells her to get ready.

They begin to test their neural connections and it seems to be successful. Dr Gottlieb interrupts Stacker’s viewing of it to see Dr Geiszler, who had gained some impressions from entering the brain of the Kaiju. He’s found out that the Kaiju are in fact attacking Earth under orders from their overlords. Thanks to environmental damage (couldn’t help but push that message, could we?) the atmosphere is ready for them. The Kaiju are only the first stage, there are worse things coming. Stacker wants him to do it again but for that they need a fresh Kaiju brain, which Stacker apparently has.

He has been sourcing extra funding from the black market in exchange for giving them Kaiju remains. The scientists are chanced with finding the leader Hannibal Chau, played by the ever infamous Ron Perlman. 

Both Mako and Raleigh begin seeing painful memories and become out of alignment, Raleigh stabilises quickly but it isn’t as easy for Mako. She stands in the wake of a Kaiju attack, her parents are dead, she becomes scared and in the real world she begins to power up the plasma cannon. The crew disconnect the power, preventing it from firing.

Meanwhile, Dr Geiszler begins deciphering a secret code used by the gang and meets up with Hannibal Chau, who’s stolen the name from a fictional character. 

Meanwhile, Chuck chews out Raleigh and Mako and they get into a fight. Raleigh kicks his ass. Both Raleigh and Mako are brought into Stacker’s office and Mako is dismissed. Raleigh questions that decision, having seen her memories. Stacker gives him the angry speech and says he can either obey or go back to the wall. Frankly, I don’t see much of why he thinks this is the favourable option here, all things considered. Mako and Raleigh begin to reconcile, Raleigh still thinks the connection between them is strong and it would have to be since he’s still dealing with the loss of his brother.

A double event happens, there are 2 level 4 Kaiju heading towards the Hong Kong coastline. Cherno Alpha and Crimson Typhoon are taking point, whilst Striker Eureka is to protect the coast but only engaging if necessary. Gipsy Danger is staying put. So we’ve barely had any time with the triplets or the two with blond hair, guess they’re going to die then.

The Kaiju attack, so Crimson Typhoon begins using the thundercloud formation, Crimson Typhoon is knocked back by their Kaiju. Crimson Typhoon is destroyed and Cherno Alpha is hit by some acid. Striker Eureka moves in to help as Cherno Alpha is finished off. One of the Kaiju engages an emp, which begins shutting down the machines. With no other options, Gipsy danger is deployed.

Meanwhile, Hannibal finds out that since the Kaiju have a hive mind, when he interfaced with one dead brain, the others all knew about it and are coming after him. Whilst Hannibal heads to a private bunker, Dr Geiszler is heading to a public one. One of the Kaiju heads inland whilst the other just stares at Striker Eureka. Allowing Chuck and his father to try and shoot it with flare guns, not that it worked.

Gipsy tries to fight but it thrown onto the land. The fight continues and it’s just as awesome and stupid as you might expect. They empty their clip of plasma cannon shots taking down the first Kaiju but there’s one more and it’s setting the city on fire. Geiszler reveals they’re trying to get him and back away from him making him easy pickings, people are pr*cks like that but then he should've known no good would come of telling anyone. The Kaiju breaks into the shelter but Gipsy Danger arrives, using a boat as a baseball bat before it can do anything.

More fighting and several billion dollars of property damage later, they deploy their convenient weapon they really should’ve opened with, the sword, which slices the Kaiju in half. Oh and the Kaiju can fly now. They manage to make a landing that does even more property damage but Gipsy danger is still intact, just. Was that EMP was just a 1-time thing? Seems like that may be useful.

Hannibal and his team begin scavenging the dead Kaiju for whatever they can sell. Some of the team are looking for the brain but hear a heartbeat, that Kaiju was pregnant. It comes out but thanks to premature birth does not survive very long. Hannibal gloats just long enough for the thing to come back to life and eat him.

Turns out Stacker has future cancer thanks to the lack of radiation shielding in his Jaegers, he was the only pilot to ever fly solo but if he ever steps foot in a Jaeger again, he’ll die. They get an alert that two more Kaiju have emerged from the breach but are protecting it rather than engaging.

Gottfried and Geiszler argue about why there aren’t 3 coming through, the only way to find out is to look into the recently deceased Kaiju brain before it suffers critical damage in less than 10 minutes. They agree to do it together. With Chuck’s father injured, Stacker becomes Chuck’s co-pilot, despite the fact that they’ve not been proven drift compatible.

Stacker gives his speech because we’re ripping off Independence Day now. It’s still pretty awesome though. OK, we get the question about how they’re drift compatible, Stacker says he won’t carry anything into the drift and he figured Chuck out years ago. We get the bonding between Chuck and his father.

The doctors begin their neural interface and discover the plan is not going to work, they try to head back to warn them but the they’ve already submerged. They head to the breach, largely without resistance and they soon find out why, the portal needs a Kaiju to open it. Making matters worse a category 5 kaiju emerges from the breach.

The Kaiju attack, Gipsy destroys one of the Kaiju with a sword, but loses an arm in the process, worse the category 5 has done damage, Striker Eureka cannot drop the payload. With both Kaiju now en-route to Striker they decide to arm their payload for detonation. Gipsy is a walking nuclear reactor; it can still finish the job.

They carry a Kaiju carcass to the breach so they can enter it but it turns out the level 5 Kaiju survived the nuclear bomb, they use the sword to bring it down into the breach with them. So a nuclear bomb doesn’t stop it but a sword and some fire does, cool. They enter the breach with their oxygen levels low. Raleigh gives Mako his oxygen and sends her off in an escape pod. Because systems are broken, he has to do it manually and quickly. He manages to do it, with 60 seconds to escape, with only 18 of those seconds left, he evacuates. The nuclear bomb goes off, collapsing the breach, saving the world. Mako’s pod surfaces first with Raleigh’s not too far behind, but vital signs missing. Mako goes to inspect, finding him alive.

The two look at each other lovingly but unlike most couples of this nature, they don’t kiss. Well, progress I suppose. In a mid-credits scene, we see Hannibal cut his way out of the Kaiju baby, probably the dumbest moment in the entire movie.

So that was Pacific Rim and honestly, I thought I’d have more not to like about this movie.

Don’t get me wrong, there are a few dumb moments but this movie strikes a fine balance between taking itself seriously and embracing the silliness of it. It is a brilliant movie with action, humour and the occasional bit of drama.

But I do have some issues, there is not a lot of character to this movie. Characters get their moments but there’s precious little arcs or development to them, apparently a lot of character stuff was cut to decrease the movie’s runtime, which spans about 2 hours, you really wouldn’t have wanted this movie to be any longer. I’m looking at you Transformers.

It’s not an original concept by any stretch of the imagination but it’s handled well enough to stand tall on its own. Idris Elba as Stacker is particularly memorable in his role. Rinko Kikuchi as Mako also stood out to me, her character was by far the most interesting of the group. Charlie Hunnam as Raleigh did an OK job, there were times where I could hear his natural british accent come through but he served as a guy you could root for.

Ron Perlman was funny in his role for what little screen time he had and Charlie Day as Dr Geiszler worked well, the comic relief was not too annoying and he did have an essential role in the plot beyond that. Burn Gorman had less time but was equally amusing

All in all, a good movie and I’ll await the sequel with interest.

Rating -300%

Next up we’re back to the cr*p and we’re back to Batman as we look at Batman: Bad Blood.

For initial thoughts on movies, comics and video games as well as exclusive updates, click here to like my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter @rageformedia


Images/clips used in this review are from Pacific Rim and belong to their respective owners. All images in this review are subject to fair use