Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars
In the not so distant future a portal will open up under the ocean at the Pacific Rim, and through the portal will come giant monsters "Kaiju" whose intent is to threaten humanity. The speed and size in which these monsters are coming is increasing, and it's only a matter of time before we become extinct. In order to battle them we've created giant mecha, human style robotics, named Jaeger's. Only thing is they're so big that one human cannot control one without suffering damaging mental overload, so it is necessary for two humans to control one, one person controlling the right hemisphere while the other controls the left. But in the process they must move in synch with each other, and in order to do that their minds must meld, becoming susceptible to the others memories, open to allowing their own memories to be searched and discovered. Nothing is sacred.
That is the general theme and back story of the movie. The world that has been created by director Guillermo del Toro for his science-fiction Japanese influenced Pacific Rim is rich and interesting. Instead of coming from the sky, the alien monsters came from the ocean, which is really a nice twist, and the monsters are Godzilla like in size and destruction. The giant robotic mecha's is the closest I'll get to a live action, grand scale Gundam movie, which is why I couldn't wait to see this film.
The visuals are spectacular, everything a giant popcorn loving blockbuster would want. And the action scenes are fun and intense.
Where the movie suffers is in the characterization. The characters are two-dimensional, playing types instead of fleshed out individuals. There is an emotional core missing. A lack of humanity that I would have liked to see. There were family/relationship connections between some characters that were left unknown until critical points in the movie in order to create some sort of suspense; instead the sudden revelations left me not caring. If some of that knowledge would have been built in as character development, seeing how the characters truly care about each other, I would have cared a little more about them.
The best actor in the entire movie was Mana Ashida who played young Mako. She was phenomenal! I would watch the movie again just to see the couple scenes she was in. Just amazing. She was in the moment and terrified, and I felt terrified with her. I felt her pain. Why couldn't the adults act with that intensity!?
The movie is an absolute blast and I'm glad to have seen it at least once, and on IMAX 3D to boot. I still haven't decided if I'd buy it.
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence throughout, and brief language.
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