Pacific Rim will make you believe in giant robots again

With the recent spate of end of the world movies (This is the End, World War Z, etc), something becomes quite clear. There are two ways to view the end of days: 1) Without hope and 2) With hope. Sometimes it’s about despair and fear as the world collapses, and acknowledging that the only thing that can be saved is the human spirit, if not the world. But then there are the other ones … the ones that hope that despite the sense of doom, humanity can band together and defeat the external threat, whether it is aliens (Independence Day among many), natural disasters (again too many to count), or something else. This faith that despite our many differences, our very sameness binds us and may serve as the path to safety. And if there can be the thrill of ungodly behemoths smacking each other around, that’s just an added benefit.

Pacific Rim is the latest film from Guillermo Del Toro, better known for his more horror-oriented films like Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth. But although there are elements of cosmic monstrosity here, it’s not really that sort of movie. Instead, it’s an homage and love letter to every classic monster movie and every giant robot story, tying back to the times kids smashed immovable toy dolls together. The movie begins with a voiceover narration that tells the story expediently and quickly; it’s clear that it’s all about getting to the next part. It’s not the most effective narrative device, but it’s quickly forgotten once things get going for real. It seems that in the very near future the Earth is attacked by monsters rising up from a mysterious rift in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. These creatures, called kaiju (which is the slightly mistranslated Japanese term for the monster movie genre) are immense in size and are only killed with heavy losses. So the world bands together to build giant robots, called Jaegers, to fight back — monsters with monsters, as it’s said, piloted by humans. But the sheer size of these Jaegers is too much for the puny human brain to handle, so it becomes a team effort. Two pilots, working together, sharing memories in a “drift” — the closer the bond, the better it is. So far so good, right? But the movie starts as things have just started to get worse, and humanity is running out of options and time.

Too much can be spoiled by specifics, but I can say that performances were variable here. Many of the side characters are archetypes and near caricatures, like the Russian and Chinese pilots that have few lines of dialogue, or the hotshot Australian kid that isn’t impressed by the hero and his gruff but loving father. Oh, did I forget about him? Well, it almost doesn’t matter, but the primary point of view is young American Raleigh (Charlie Hunnam, who’s actually British), a former pilot with a dark past that comes back despite himself to save the planet. His character is a bit bland, but then there are the other two main characters. Idris Elba plays Marshal Pentecost, the head of the defense effort, and he is charismatic, intriguing, and consistently awesome. Rinko Kikuchi plays Mako Mori, a girl with her own dark past (they all have them), but may be tied into the pasts of others. And naturally, she’s got something to prove too. But that makes it seem like I disliked the acting, which isn’t quite accurate. For the most part, the acting was quite good; even the over the top Australian father and son pilots had some genuinely emotional moments. Charlie Day and Burn Gorman play nutty scientists that serve as comedic balance and may also hold the key to saving the world. There are even a few little minor characters that show up that I won’t spoil, unlike a lot of other people, because I didn’t expect it; I think it was better that way.

But the characters are just part of the story, the way to get us to actually care about this world and have any sort of stakes at all. The real spectacle is the awesomeness of seeing unbelievably huge things destroy each other. Yes, it’s all CGI here, but the animation has a weight and heft to it, the designs looking worn and lived in. It feels nearly real. Are there some plot holes and inconsistent story elements? Sure. Are the pieces original? Not really. But the fun of this movie overrides any worries about flimsy characterizations and simplified plotlines. Plus, the action is easy to follow — this is no Transformers, where you can’t tell the good guys from the bad ones. The only part I felt mixed on was the very ending, but it’s really a small complaint in the scheme of things. Perhaps there’s more to grow for these characters, but I can say that most of the sacrifices mattered. And in the end, it’s nice to see something made with an overall level of competence and love. Del Toro lives for this stuff, you can tell. With the international cast, there’s real potential for expansion here, despite the seeming “lead” of the one guy who’s capable of great deeds more than most. Luckily, he’s not the only hero here. And you know, I like a movie to be a bit optimistic about humanity.

It’s nice have hope sometimes.