Pacific Rim (2013)

KAIJU (kaiju, Japanese) Giant Beast.
JAEGER (yagar, German) Hunter.

Our movie starts with a man saying, "When I was a kid, whenever I'd feel small or lonely, I'd look up at the stars. Wondered if there was life up there. Turns out I was looking in the wrong direction. When alien life entered our world it was from deep beneath the Pacific Ocean. A fissure between two tectonic plates. A portal between dimensions. The Breach.

The voice puts off a feeling of toughness, but I don't buy it. I guess I'm skeptical... or just intolerant of movies that ask me to leave my brain at the door.

Our narrator proceeds, with film images to illustrate, how huge creatures, Kaiju, began emerging from the rift. (It takes out the Golden Gate Bridge!!! Not just part of it, but the *whole* thing.) The Kaiju are pretty impervious to our military technology -- not like the alien ships in 'Independence Day' -- and it takes them 6 days to kill the first one. But more keep coming. (Dun, dun, dun!) The world bands together, "throwing aside old rivalries for the sake of the greater good." And the Jaeger program was born.

What's the Jaeger program? Huge robots that operate through a neural interface with a pilot. They're so huge that only *two* human minds can handle the "neural load," right hemisphere, left hemisphere. (So is one pilot more artistic and the other more analytical?) And Jaegers are only as successful as the people who pilot them.

Jaeger pilots turned into rock stars. Danger turned into propaganda (not at all like what's happening in the US today - wait? is this going to be some political commentary?).  And Kaiju became toys (literally, where they were no longer scary). Then it all changed. (Not really, but since the world revolves around Raleigh, it did.)

In 2013, huge alien creatures have started invading and destroying Earth. People fight back using Jaegers, huge robots that interface with 2 pilots each.  7 years into the 'war,' aka 2020, we meet Raleigh (Charlie Hunnum) and Yancy (Diego Klattenhoff) Becket, brothers who are 'drift' compatible, meaning they are able to mind-meld and pilot a Jaeger. We watch the elaborate system of armor that they strap on before locking into the interface. (I mean literally - like clicking into skis.)

Then they "drop" into the Jaeger, their pod becoming its head. (So, I guess, even though our technology allows us to develop tech and a system which can meld two human minds, it isn't able to do it *remotely.* Even though we can remotely control missles and drones, this would be too difficult, I guess.) Raleigh tells us "the deeper the bond, the better you fight."

This particular deployment is overseen by Marshal Pentecost (Idris Elba), who tells them to just kill the Kaiju and not worry about the floundering civilian vessel. The brothers don't particularly like that order. They decide to "go fishing." Raleigh tells us that "There are things you can't fight, acts of God. You see a hurricane coming, you have to get out of the way. But when you're in a Jaeger, suddenly, you can fight the hurricane. You can win." (Not setting them up to be overly confident and cocky at all.) The poor fishermen end up straight in the path of the Kaiju. (They couldn't tell that the island *coming towards them* was actually a huge alien monster, even though it wouldn't be on any sea chart and Kaiju happen *all* the time.)

The brothers appear and get the ship out of danger and then start to fight the monster. They shoot it with a plasma cannon (again, we can develop plasma cannons but not a remote neural interface) and it sinks into the ocean. The Marshall is pissed at them disobeying a direct order, but the important thing is that the boat -- rather than the city of 2 million people that they're supposed to be defending -- is safe. (Even though, weren't they out there to kill the Kaiju? Did it really matter *where* in the Pacific Ocean they did it?)

It turns out that the Kaiju was merely pretending to be dead. Pentecost contradicts himself and tells them to grab the boat and get out of there. The Kaiju attacks and when it shatters the Jaeger's left arm, Raleigh screams with pain. (You would think that they'd have some sort of *safety* in place to protect the pilots from getting hurt.  The Kaiju rips into the head (how is this thing this smart?) and takes Yancy with him. The Kaiju is ripping the Jaeger apart. Raleigh screams as the plasma cannon fires.

Command loses a signal for both of them. Pentecost is unresponsive as he slowly walks away from the bridge. (I guess it's a blow for him to lose a Jaeger and its pilots. Particularly because they disobeyed him and got themselves in that position. If only they'd just obeyed his order!.. But, of course Raleigh's not dead. He's the narrator and hero of the story. Did they really have to have it start with this predictable attempt at establishing an emotional connection between the hero and the audience? He lost his brother! They liked each other! The Marshall doesn't know either of them but takes it as a personal blow when he loses even *one* of his men.)

Next day, a grandpa and his grandson are wandering the *Alaskan* shoreline with a metal detector. (Because so many people vacation there and sunbathe and lose things.) They find a robot toy. (Really? Is the world so over-populated in 2020 that you have kids playing on Alaskan beaches? Or are you saying that a toy that would set off a metal detector would *float* and wash ashore? Last time I looked, metal doesn't float, unless its sealed like a ship. A robot toy is not going to float.)  Then they barely avoid getting stepped on by Raleigh's Jaeger, which collapses once its on shore. Raleigh staggers out, bloody, and muttering his brother's name.

Stirring music as the camera pans out to show just how small they are compared to the Jaeger. Cue credits.

Okay, so right away, I can tell that this is going to be a movie where they're asking me to leave my brain at the door. But at least it sure does look pretty.

A different voice -- Taylor -- announces that the "Kaiju are are learning our defenses. They're adapting.  Evolving. And we're losing Jaegers faster than we can build them." (How is that happening? They're not the Borg. They're huge animals/monsters like Godzilla. I guess it's to make things even more dire so the rest of the movie can happen.) We're told that Category 4 Kaiju (whatever that means... are they using hurricane ratings?) are now coming through the Breach. (Or are the aliens sending their more sentient monsters through the Breach? Because sending your best weapons *first* wouldn't be a good invasion strategy. Or maybe there's only Category 4 Kaiju left on the other side of the Breach...)

It's not a briefing but a bunch of talking heads from the UN Command expositing that using Jaegers is "no longer a sound strategy... The Jaegers are not the most viable line of defense anymore." (Wait a minute? Didn't Raleigh tells us that Jaegers were the only things that seemed to be able to quickly stop Kaiju? And UN Command is so important that they need to be broadcast on 3 different monitors *in the same room.* Plus, none of them are military men, as evidenced by their lack of uniform and wearing of suit jacket and tie.) A tile tells us that it's 5 years later and this is the Closing Day of the Alaska base. There's plastic covering all the equipment. (But the monitors are still working. I guess they're going to be playing video games later.)

(Ugh! It's that slimey guy -- David Richmond Peck -- who always plays a weasel! And the guy talking - Taylor (Robin Thomas) - isn't much better. Now we *know* we can't trust this committee's judgment, since they're a bunch of self-preserving jerks.) Small writing on each screen identifies who they are - UN council members. (The UN is making military decisions now? Because their Peacekeepers are so effective. And why does the guy from Japan barely look Japanese?)

Marshall Pentecost takes offense since it's *his* Rangers doing the dying. He wants one last chance to take care of business. The UN Rep from the UK doesn't want to hear it: "The Jaeger program is dead!' Apparently, they've been building coastal walls (because walls holding back the ocean work really well in Louisiana) and they're a promising option. (Yes, I'm sure all those beachfronts in California will appreciate their view being blocked by a huge wall.)

Taylor - the UN Rep from the US - authorizes Pentecost to take the remaining Jaegers to the last battle station in Hong Kong. They're generously offering 8 months of funding while the wall is completed. (Wait. Why is a guy from the UK weighing in? Isn't the UK in the *Atlantic*?) Sleezy guy snarks that Pentecost has his answer.

End of video conference. Tendo (Clifton Collins, Jr, the guy who was doing the monitoring during Yancy's last battle) and Herc (a new guy who's supposedly Australian, given the bad accent Max Martini is sporting) are not happy about being left out to dry. (I'm looking at the credits list and Tendo is supposed to be Chinese-American. He's being played by someone with *Mexican* heritage. Because those two gene pools look exactly alike.) Marshall declares that they don't need them. (Except for when you need to pay the bills...)

(Wow. I'm only about 20 minutes into the film and I'm already rolling my eyes. And we haven't even gotten to meeting the heroine, yet.)

Switch to said Alaskan wall. Raleigh's gotten a job building it. Apparently it's dangerous, because 3 guys died the day before. It's a blow to the group. Because TVs are always randomly left on news stations at construction sites -- a news report from Sydney, Australia, airs, where a Category 4 Kaiju broke through the coastal wall in less than a hour! "The Wall of Life had been deemed unbreachable by its builders." The Kaiju strolls past the Opera House (just to confirm that it's Sydney). It was a decommissioned Jaeger -- piloted by Herc and his son, Chuck (Robert Kazinsky) -- that finally took the monster down. (Why are people watching the battle on a rooftop?) The Kaiju conveniently took down only 1 small building when it fell. Raleigh -- who for some reason is no longer a Jaeger pilot, even though he piloted one *alone* -- is struggling emotionally. (No real explanation for why he's struggling. His job is pointless? Chuck was cocky in his interview? He has gas?)

A helicopter arrives -- unannounced -- and, of course, Raleigh is the one who goes to investigate. (Not the foreman we saw earlier, but one of the crew.) It's Marshall Pentecost, who's there for Raleigh. (Why does Pentecost have a decked-out-in-black-ops-gear security detail? Is one of the construction workers going to riot or something?) Raleigh seems to have an attitude. After all it's been 5 years and 4 months since they last saw each other. (So, did Raleigh get kicked out or did he quit? I'm confused. He's acting like he was kicked out, with all the emotional reaction to the wall breech and bitterly keeping track of the days, but then it sounds like Pentecost is there to persuade him to get back in the fight - so maybe he quit? Do I even really care?)

They go and talk. Apparently, it's been 6 of those 8 months and Pentecost has been building up his Jaeger army and needs a pilot for an old Mark 3. (Raleigh is his first choice because all the other Mark 3 pilots are dead. Including Yancy!) (And isn't it ironic that they antiquated Mark 3 is going to save everyone? Of course, you know it is. The hero will be piloting it.) Raleigh refuses -- because he was still connected to Yancy when Yancy died and he experienced it! -- but Pentecost announces that the world is coming to an end. Where would he like to be: here or in a Jaeger! The warrior in Raleigh decides to man up and go pilot the Mark 3. (Even though he quit because of the psychological trauma, and you have to mentally bond with whoever you fight with, and it could all happen again -- psychological trauma!) His true heroism helps him to overcome...

Hong Kong's station is called the Shatterdome. (Now, if the Kaiju are adapting and learning, why wouldn't they all just converge on this one base and take all the Jaegers out once and for all? There's no wall protecting it. No, the Kaiju are only intelligent when it serves the plot.) Cue the heroine -- Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) -- who we don't first see because her face is obscured by a huge umbrella. (This always makes me more curious, when directors obscure an actor's face. Wait. No, it doesn't.) Her face looks impressed when she meets Raleigh. Pentecost announces that she's in charge of the Mark 3 restoration program and has personally handpicked his co-pilot candidates. (Couldn't they have just paired up 2 of these candidates to pilot the Mack 3? No, no. The hero is the only one who can do it.) Mako says she isn't that impressed (in Japanese, of course). And of course, Raleigh knows Japanese (because everyone in the US knows Japanese) so Mako is suitably embarrassed. (She can't be superior or equal to the hero.)

Raleigh ends up in an elevator with the research team: Drs. Gottlieb (Burn Gorman) and Geiszler (Charlie Day). Geiszler wants them to be careful with the specimens! and wants to be called Newt -- so we're supposed to like him, since he's just a regular guy -- and Gottlieb demands to be called 'Doctor' because of all his decorated experience -- in other words, he's a stuck-up academic who you aren't supposed to really like. Newt has tats of various Kaiju. When he says that he'd like to see one up-close one day, Raleigh assures him that he doesn't. (Because Raleigh is a seasoned veteran and Newt is a newbie idiot.)

Yes, you're figuring it out. This movie is going to be cliche-ridden and formulaic. There will be no real character development and you will not grow attached to anyone in the film -- except for maybe Idris Elba because he is just that awesome and can make lame dialogue resonate with emotion.

Pentecost announces that they're not an army anymore but the Resistance. (Because the bureaucrats won't do what needs to be done, so they're on their own!) Welcome to the Shatterdome! (I expect Tina Turner to start laughing about now.) We enter a hangar abuzz with activity. (And now I expect to see a couple of X-Wings at some point.) People are wandering around - but trying to look like they are walking with purpose to show that this is a vibrant military installation. They have a war clock that resets with every attack -- so everyone can stay focused. Pentecost announces that there's only 4 Jaegers left. Raleigh responds that he didn't know it was this bad. (Not that you would have done anything, because of your psychological trauma.)

Exposition to introduce the various Jaegers and their pilots -- who just happen to be hanging out on the hangar deck. The Chinese triplets are playing basketball and the Russian pilots are cold and distant. (And by the description, they're even better than Raleigh and Yancy ever were. But that's not important, because our hero and heroine are going to save the day.) Herc and Chuck have also arrived, with their bulldog. (So we have to like them, because they are dog lovers.) Herc and Raleigh have fought together before, so there's that automatic bond. But Chuck is an arrogant jerk, so there's that automatic rivalry, because both of them are strapping, young men.

Pentecost reveals his plan to nuke the Breach. (Why haven't they tried this before? Oh, wait.) Raleigh announces that attacking the Breach doesn't work. But Pentecost has a plan. (And if Idris Elba says it, you know it's going to work. Not that he wasn't the Marshall who oversaw all those other operations, but I guess the implication is that he was shackled by the bureaucrats before and now they're the Resistance!) Glares between Chuck and Raleigh -- because of the rivalry! (Not that two peers could have a healthy competition and be friends. No, they must be rivals!)

Of course, Mori ends up being the most compatible co-pilot with Raleigh, and he wants her, but Pentecost refuses -- because of adopted-Daddy issues. Mako's going to cave and not fight for the job, because of "respect" for Pentecost. (Because the way of those Asian cultures and their strange ideas of respect for elders are just foolish soul-crushers where the young sacrifice their wants for the pride of the old and don't let anyone do anything!) Pentecost's 'reason' is that Mako suffered a severe trauma during the Kaiju attack on Tokyo, with the Kaiju chasing after her (at least in the memory). But later it *is* revealed to be Daddy issues because Pentecost was the one who saved her. (So not only does Raleigh have psychological trauma! but Mako does too!)

Those wacky scientists clash on everything. Newt ends up being a rogue and mind-melding with a Kaiju brain, which reveals that the Kaiju are actually just monsters bred to colonize and consume the Earth! They're meant to exterminate the vermin (people) before the Aliens arrive. Those dastardly aliens just destroy planets so they can colonize them and Earth is next! This experiment, of course, links him into the hive mind, so the Kaiju come after him. (And, of course, the mental stress of a mind-meld always just impacts the *left* eye while causing a nose bleed. Cue black and white footage from earlier if you're not sure I'm right.)

During their first test in the Mark 3, Raleigh's flashback of Yancy's death causes them both to 'fall out of alignment' and Mako almost blasts the command center as she relives her trauma. Chuck and Raleigh have their inevitable fist fight (where Raleigh is, of course, the better fighter). And it looks like both of Mako and Raleigh are going to wash out. (But, of course, they don't, because they're supposed to save the world!)

Ron Perlman has his usual campy turn as Hannibal Chau. Crimson suit. Gold-plated tips on his boots. Grill on the teeth. He gets spectacularly eaten.

Obligatory cheering scene. Obligatory speech to rouse the troops. Obligatory goodbye between father and son, where they don't have to say what they've never said because the other knew those things all along. The geeky scientists who find out vital information at the last minute. Throwing up after the drift with a Kaiju into a near-by random toilet. The first-ever Category 5 Kaiju during the final battle. That amazing sword being able to slice a Kaiju in half. And why are the Kaiju now guarding the Breech? When they haven't before? Obligatory "It was a pleasure, sir." Trigger has to be activated manually, of course. Raleigh could be dead because of no vital signs. Mako instinctually knows that Raleigh needs help and cries when she thinks he's dead. Of course, Raliegh is okay. No one cheers after they announce that the breech is sealed, only when he announces to stop the clock. And the dog barks.

I guess the fight scenes are supposed to be spectacular, but all I could think while I'm watching is 'why are these things so lame? They couldn't design something better?' I mean, the Chinese Typhoon has spinning blades instead of plasma gun. The Kaiju have tough skin. Why blades when the plasma gun works? A King Kong-like Kaiju rips off the head of the Russians so they drown. A Kaiju sends out an EMP blast and then *doesn't* finish off the disabled Jaeger. Missles that emerge from the chest *after* the shielding pulls back. How is that smart? Using tanker cars as brass knucles and a tanker as a club. Mass destruction of buildings and the acid spraying Kaiju only spits acid when it's plot convenient. I mean, why wouldn't it use it all the time? And it has wings? The last ditch addition of a sword that can cut through a Kaiju - why not use that to begin with?

There's also all those lovely stereotypes:
* The gruff, but lovable father figure
* The rebel soldier who has psychological trauma but overcomes it so he can save the day! And he's better than everyone in everything.
* The meek and submissive Asian female who also has insane martial arts skills (because genetically, all Asians know martial arts)
* The dorky scientist and the prissy scientist. The dorky scientist wears glasses and the prissy scientist dresses like he's a caddy or someone from the 1940s. The dorky scientist's glasses aren't that thick, but, of course, without them on, he can't see anything.
* The bizarre weirdo that Ron Perlman gets to play. His characters are never not-kooky.
* The jerky bureaucrats whose self-interest and greed almost ruins everything.
* The cocky young rival who needs that psychological trauma so that he can see just how much better the Hero is than him.
* The gruff dad who can't tell his son that he's proud of him.
* The tech who is our ringside announcer, just so we know how dire things are.
* The big plan doesn't work.
* Someone you're supposed to care about sacrifices his life nobly to save the world.
* He's joined by someone you'd never think would join him, just to show that he's not that bad of a guy.
* The victory has a tinge of sadness because of that self-sacrifice.

I sigh. Don't get me wrong. I love military movies and science fiction. I just hate when the story is so laden with cliches that are meant to stir some emotional connection but really just are irritating in their obviousness. This could have been a really good movie. It's a 'unique' idea -- if you haven't seen Voltron or Robotech -- and it had Idris Elba, for Pete's sake. But the writers were too lazy to really make the science or the fantasy work. A good science fiction movie doesn't have you asking 'why didn't they?' every few minutes. And they don't throw out special tricks only when it's plot-convenient.

I do have to give props for the visuals. This is one lushly shot film. The set pieces are amazing and the color tones are excellent. So, if you just want to watch the movie for the sights, I give it a 10 out of 10. But if you're actually interested in plot and character development and are interested in more than it being cool to watch huge robots battle monsters, I have to give it a 4 out of 10. It's memorable in all the ways that it could have been so much more awesome.

Also, I'd like to ask director Guillermo del Toro to actually visit the location he's setting his movie in. I don't remember palm trees in Hong Kong. There's plenty in California or Hawaii, but in Asia? Not so much. Also, Toronto doesn't look like Hong Kong.

My Rating: 4/10

Links:
 
Pacific Rim Is Literally the Most Awesome Movie of the Summer by Angela Watercutter of Wired - her rationale? It's an "original story." Not a cliche-ridden piece of military muck. And not a Robotech rip-off.
Rotten Tomatoes page for the film
Variety.com article - Do Critics Have the Wrong Idea About ‘Pacific Rim’ Director Guillermo del Toro?
Wikipedia page for the film

Reviews:

The Atlantic review - A Beautiful, Disappointing Pacific Rim  Ft. Worth Star-Telegram review
Matt Zoller Seitz review on RogerEbert.comMiami Herald film review
NPR review - 'Pacific' Overture: The Apocalypse, Off To A Bang-Up Start
The Telegraph review
Vulture's review - Edelstein on Pacific Rim: Is It Surprising That a Robot Movie Is This Inexpressive?
Washington Post review - ‘Pacific Rim’ review: A rock ’em, sock ’em sci-fi spectacle with heart