February Review: Pacific Rim (2013) (Patreon)

Completely unrelated, I started watching Battlebots recently. So in terms of how much this critic likes watching big robots fight things, it's a lot.

Pacific Rim (2013) is a massive flex, director Guillermo del Toro once again proving he knows how to craft a genre film that is not just true to its source material, but celebrates it. Sure, there are big robots and monsters and their fights are epic and weighty, sure there is campy production design and a killer musical theme, but there is also real heart and an understanding of the themes best explored by the Kaiju genre modernized for a 2013 audience. It really doesn't hurt that the Jaegers are rad as hell either.

Del Toro's mastery of the genre film comes down to his genuine love for the genres he works in. Kaiju films, going back to Gojira (1954), often explore the ways humanity creates its own destruction by messing with the natural world. The heart of these films is the human folly, the inciting incident is us, disturbing forces beyond our ken. Pacific Rim (2013) takes this concept, one classically applied to things like radiation and more specifically the atomic bomb, and instead explores the effects of global warming. The Kaiju are ranked by categories like Hurricanes, they emerge from our growing seas, and they are stated explicitly to push their take-over of our planet because humanity's heating of the atmosphere functionally terraformed it for them. All of this subtext is cleverly integrated into the writing of Pacific Rim (2013). No one will state the moral out loud while staring into the camera, but the deeper meaning is so delicately laid below the surface it is impossible to miss. It's refreshing to have what could easily have been a big dumb action movie not smack you over the head with allegory, and yet not abandon any need for themes.

Pacific Rim (2013), also refreshingly, does not abandon the need for hope. Unlike some of the earliest Kaiju films, Pacific Rim (2013) posits a world where humanity can enact change, they can, "Cancel the apocalypse!" Assuming of course, that the entire world can be united by global warming-I mean giant sea monster aliens. There are sad loses throughout the film, but by the end through the combined efforts of the international resistance, the Kaiju are defeated. It's the, "why" of those sacrifices that really sat with me on this most recent rewatch. All of our protagonists are so fundamentally good because they care not just for each other, as the "drift compatibility" of the Jaeger pilots demands, but because they care for all of humanity. The film itself, forces the audience to care for the people of its world just as much, showing the shelters and real consequences of the monsters' rampages. The destruction isn't glossed over or ignored, everyone from the characters to the audience is aware of the stakes in Pacific Rim (2013).

i could gush about del Toro's directorial brilliance and love for genre for many more paragraphs, but let's take a moment to give some flowers to the other names of the film. The entire cast is excellent, playing into stock characters while imbuing them with enough originality to be memorable. Our two leads, Raleigh (Charlie Hunnam) and Mako (Rinko Kikuchi), have perfect compatibility, their chemistry selling the drift compatibility from first glance. Ron Pearlman is as delightful as ever as the slimy, larger-than-life Kaiju parts salesman who meets the most comical end (or does he?) of the film. Both scientists, but in particular Dr. Newton (Charlie Day) are the perfect dose of academic rivalry to tell us all we need to know about the logistics of the kaiju. It's especially fun to get to see Day, best-known for his time on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, apply that manic energy to the the world of academia. But of course, the stand-out performance of the film is Idris Elba as Marshal Pentecost. Let it never be said that Elba does not fully commit, and his ability to bring prestige performance to blockbuster genre pieces is one I've come to endlessly appreciate. Elba brings a gravitas and charisma to the military mind behind the Jaeger program that prevents him from ever becoming an unlikable obstacle. He's effortlessly cool, and when he says they're going to close the Breach, you believe it.

While the performances are wonderful, the world they exist in is what really sells Pacific Rim (2013). The production design is never boring. Sure there's a lot of tech, but it still has color and structures that are unexpected. Jaeger's with extra arms, or distinct whirling cores. The rooms of the film are decked out in practical monster parts and bright regalia, and the costumes are utilitarian but varied in hue, with pizzaz like a golden dress shoe tow where needed. This attention to visual detail is not just for our heroes, the Kaiju themselves are the perfect blend of alien details and dinosaur-like scales. They have a unified design ethos, but with enough unique features to justify their in-universe code names.

All of that glorious aesthetic is well-displayed, as the special effects largely hold up. It helps that Pacific Rim (2013) had the foresight to set most of its fights in the pouring rain, allowing an environmental excuse to make the CGI fights look seamless with the practical Jaeger interiors. Once again lighting saves the day, as stormy weather can hurt visibility, but the bright weapons and lights of the Jaegers and kaiju illuminate the action enough so you never lose track of those "hell yes" punches and robot-sword deployments.

Pacific Rim (2013) is about as close to perfect as a film can get. The one critique to offer is it is a bit long, and there is a segment where we perhaps go too long without seeing a big robot punch a lizard. I personally wouldn't call this a problem, but I also love this genre. I have to instead imagine my Father watching this movie, and imagine when he would start, "fast forwarding to get to the action." Perhaps Pacific Rim (2013) could be tighter, but frankly, I don't think it needs to be.

I will forever be jealous of how incredibly cool it must feel to be Guillermo del Toro. To be able to celebrate your favorite genres in hit after hit, working with wonderful talents and creating visual masterpieces. I love Pacific Rim (2013), a movie that is made with incredible heart, and yes, kicks kaiju ass!

9 out of 10 surprise sword deployments