Something doesn’t have to be perfect, or even good, to be enjoyable. Food, books, video games, TV shows, and, of course, movies. Sometimes, the stupid and fun are simply better than the complex and boring. A perfect example of this is Guillermo del Toro’s 2013 movie, Pacific Rim. Pacific Rim is such a unique movie because it blends Hollywood spectacle with anime “rule of cool” robots. That said, the majority of the movie is just build-up for the fight scenes. In fact, it’s fair to say that Pacific Rim is a perfect film, except for the 90% of it that nobody actually remembers. The premise is simple, and the plot is predictable, but if you were watching the robots vs monsters movie for the plot, I have one question for you: why do you hate fun so much? Nobody remembers this movie for the plot; they remember it for the Hong Kong fight.
This movie rides on its VFX, or visual effects, which still hold up today and is a mix of practical effects and CGI. The mechanical and creature designs are top-notch, with every design choice on the Jaegers (and the kaiju, to a lesser extent) being well thought out and purposeful. Each Jaeger is unique and has elements of its nation of origin worked into its aesthetics and functionality. For example, the Russian Jaeger featured in the film, Cherno Alpha, is a massive steel behemoth with tons of armor and physical power and is the last surviving first-generation Jaeger. The Chinese bring the three-armed Crimson Typhoon, which relies on having an extra pilot to control the third arm. The Aussies have Striker Eureka, the first and only 5th generation Jaeger, with a more “anime” look than the other mechs. Now, this is a Hollywood movie, so the most important Jaeger is from America! Gypsy Danger was heavily inspired by WW2-era American bombers with a navy blue color scheme, visible rivets, and kill count markings.
The Hong Kong fight is around 15 minutes in length, with about half of that time taken up with pure action. The scene is set entirely at night, which is a common trick used by CGI-heavy films, as CGI looks better at night. That said, this fight is far from lazy and honestly looks better than most modern CGI. The reflective Jaegers elevated this scene so much, with neon signs all over the place and those signs reflecting on the Jaegers. Moreover, the latter half of the fight operates entirely on the “rule of cool” and is all the better for it. If you aren’t going to go through the trouble of watching the entirety of Pacific Rim, at least consider watching the Hong Kong fight on YouTube.
Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) isn’t a particularly good or interesting character, but that doesn’t actually matter because his purpose isn’t to be complex or interesting. His role is that of the audience conduit. He isn’t there to add much of anything to the story; he’s there to be a blank slate involved in every epic and cool part of the movie so that “all the guys in the audience can imagine themselves in his place, and would want to grab a beer with him.” While he’s technically the hero of the story, it really isn’t his movie.
Dr. Newton Geiszler (Charlie Day) is a biologist obsessed with the Kaiju. He has a rivalry with Dr. Herman Gottlieb (Burn Gorman) which creates this very fun dynamic of the two constantly disagreeing and trying to one-up each other. The chemistry between the two is fantastic, with the two bouncing off of each other in conversation, and they provide the majority of the comic relief for the movie. However, this comic relief isn’t actually necessary because the movie is constantly feeding the audience with awesome action scenes which keeps you from realizing how dark the setting for Pacific Rim actually is.
Day and Gorman aren’t the only great pairing, with Marshall Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba) as an experienced officer, former Jaeger pilot, and adoptive father to Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi). The pair form the main emotional core of the story, with Stacker coming to terms with his adopted daughter’s strength as a Jaeger pilot. His arc is realizing that Mako really is the best candidate for Raleigh’s copilot and then passing the torch to her. This portion of the story is surprisingly good, although it’s quite cheesy at parts.
However, the 2018 sequel to Pacific Rim, titled Pacific Rim: Uprising, is something that I willfully ignore because it is awful. It feels like terrible fanfiction, with no understanding of why Pacific Rim was special. This movie actually gave me a vendetta against John Boyega, because he has ruined two of my favorite movie franchises, Star Wars and Pacific Rim. Even his shoehorning into the franchise is so bad it’s almost funny. The excuse for his absence in the first movie is that people were too embarrassed to admit he ever existed. That’s actually the general attitude towards this movie, with most fans of the first movie not even acknowledging Uprising’s existence.
Pacific Rim may not be the best movie or even a good movie, but it is some of the best dumb fun one can have.
