Pacific Rim: Godzilla Meets The Transformers

Pacific Rim, directed by Guillermo Del Toro

I just saw Pacific Rim on TV last night. Pacific Rim is a sci-fi / action/adventure film. It is about men in robot suits who fight against aliens. The men in robot suits are called Jaegers, which is German for “Hunters.” The aliens are referred to as Kaiju, which is Japanese for “Monster.” Pacific Rim is basically Godzilla meets The Transformers.

A Jaegar

The opening sequence of Pacific Rim goes on for 18 minutes before the title of the film is shown. During this time, we are treated to a voiceover. We learn that a war has been going on for years between the Jaegar and the Kaiju. Many cities have been destroyed, including San Francisco and Manila. Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) was a Jaegar who fought in the war with his brother. His brother was killed during combat. Riley quits his job as a Jaegar and becomes a construction worker. He works on the wall that is supposed to keep the Kaiju out.

The Marshal, a man named Stacker Pentacost, (Idris Elba) wants Raleigh to become a Jaegar again. Raleigh is introduced to Mako Mori (Reiko Kukuchi), a young woman whose parents were killed during one of the wars. Pentacost has raised Mako. While Mako is talented, she also wants revenge. Mako is a good fighter but has emotional issues. Raleigh wants Mako to work with him as his brother had worked with him. Pentacost does not want Mako to be Raleigh’s teammate because he thinks she’s too inexperienced. He is also trying to protect her.

a Kaiju

We find out that the Jaegar program is being shut down. There are only a few Jaegars left. The Marshal and everyone he works with must move to Tokyo. Pretty soon, the Kaiju attack. Two groups of Jaegars are killed in the battle. Raleigh and Mako must work together to defeat the Kaiju.

We meet two scientists who work for the Marshal. One of these is a “Kaiju groupie” (Charlie Day). He is obsessed with the Kaiju. He wants to study their brains. He talks very excitedly throughout the film. When he looks into a dead Kaiju’s memory, he finds out how they think. He also gets a nosebleed. Because he interfered, more Kaiju appear. The Kaiju are becoming smarter and harder to defeat.

The Russians and the Japanese triplets are killed in the fight against the Kaiju. Raleigh’s rival and his partner fight against the Kaiju. Raleigh’s rival’s partner is injured and cannot fight again because he has a broken arm. Raleigh’s rival must work with the Marshal. Raleigh and Mako must fight again. Pretty soon, it is up to Raleigh and Mako to save to day.

I liked Pacific Rim. However, I thought it was confusing. There was one scene that was reminiscent of Alien. The dialogue was not that great; the Marshal gave a speech in which he said, “Tonight we are canceling the apocalypse.” There were many funny lines. I especially liked Charlie Day’s character. I thought the special effects were a little cheesy. Pacific Rim has a B movie feel to it. The action sequences were good. It was really tough for the Jaegars to kill the Kaiju.

I would recommend Pacific Rim to fans of Guillermo Del Toro’s films, fans of action /adventure films, and fans of sci-fi films. I would give Pacific Rim a B- because it was a good movie, but it was not great.