Okay, are they gone? Good
PACIFIC (FREAKIN') RIM
Entertaining?: Braingasm. Yes.
Quality acting/scripting?: Absolutely AMAZING.
Engaging Story?: I was gripped from start to finish. I had to pee REALLY REALLY BAD by the end but I could NOT leave my seat for even a SECOND.
Relatable Characters?: Delicious future century fighter pilots? Yes please. But seriously, these characters made me want to cry from how emotionally engaged I became with them.
Stuck to Story from Book it came from?: N/A
Balance between Movie/Real Logic?: Not sure it applies here, considering it's science fiction.. but I felt that should the Kaiju ever truly invade our world in a century or so this might be plausible.
My Rating: A+
My Take: Please pause for fangirl squealing.
AAAAAAAAAAAAGH OHMIGODOHMIGODOHMYGOSH THIS WAS AMAZING, THIS IS SOMETHING I COULD SEE FIFTY TIMES AND NOT GET TIRED OF IT AAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!!
*clears throat* End fangirl squealing.
Let's get down to it! I have to say, this is in my top three movies of the year. If not the very top. (I plan to see RED 2 this week as well, so we'll see how THAT goes. >:3)
I will be honest about something: At first? I had no real interest in seeing this movie. I confess I thought that it was a revamp of some old war movie and since I'm not a grand fan of those my interest was not piqued.
Then my brother explained what it was. His words were 'Basically Godzilla meets Power Rangers.'
He gained my curiosity, and the movie got my attention. In every way. Even the first introduction scene for the Kaiju--destroying Golden Gate Bridge--was done amazingly. The way that the Jaegers were introduced, showing just what they did for the world? Uniting the nations, giving all of humanity a front to fight against... Is it bad that it made me wish that we could have something that could so completely blend nations? To put aside our old hatreds and look to the common good rather than our own petty human dooky?
Ahem. Anyway. I liked how with the introduction, they made the Kaiju attacks an established reality. They had been fighting them for years, and with that established they laid the groundwork for the world having giant robots to fight these ginormous monsters. With the pacing they had, it did not feel rushed at all. It felt like solid storytelling with a concise military tone.
The naming of the ginormous robots--Jaegers--felt VERY fitting. What better to name a monster killing machine than after a hunter? I would like to know what the reasoning was for using the German word. But then I am a details person. :)
I was very intrigued by the way that they set up the fact that every Jaeger required a dual pilot system. The way they introduced Raleigh (I THINK that's his name, my apologies if I heard it wrong.) and his brother, it put into my head just how deep the bond had to be between the pilots if they were to be the very best they could be to fight these monsters. Even with the narration explaining the fact that the better the bond, the better the trust was between pilots, I could have gathered that concept just from the way the Jaegers' interfaces were set up. The justification for needing two pilots made absolute sense to me. After all, humans have two hemispheres of their brain to share the work to operate our body. The design of a Jaeger is very interesting. They follow a lot of the same design that the human body has, only with mechanical parts rather than organic ones. The sheer massiveness of a Jaeger... sometimes you can't run a computer with a processor that isn't powerful enough to drive it. And a single human does not possess the neural strength to really pilot a Jaeger solo, at least not for a hugely sustained amount of time. It makes sense to me, at least.
The visuals of the combat going on INSIDE the Jaegers mirrored by the Jaeger's own movements was pure fun to watch. The implied level of synchronicity needed to properly drive and fight with the machine was mind boggling to watch. And the concept of 'The Drift' was... very heavy. I could not imagine having to not only be able to fight alongside someone, but be able and willing to share everything that I knew, had experienced and remembered with that other person. I could never picture myself doing that, so I'd probably be a TERRIBLE Jaeger pilot. Intense paranoia of people and all. >:3
I did find something a LITTLE hinky about the method they used for trying to match Raleigh up with a new copilot. Purely going on compatibility of style when it comes to combat seems a little strange--I mean I was glad that due to a little exposition from Mako it made more sense. I just would have liked to see a little more of the details behind the curtain rather than just the sparring in the dojo between Raleigh and Mako. I dearly hope there is more elaboration on this element of the compatibility process and that it's on the DVD/Blu ray deleted scenes or special features when it comes out.
And then came the first 'Drift' these two had. This was interesting to watch, as you had already been introduced to a proper 'neural handshake' (I LOVE the jargon used in this film. It made it that much more fun to watch.) between partners who had been working together pretty much forever, the contrast between that handshake and the trial run of the Gipsy Danger with Mako ... the difference was at first fine. Then the similarities ended when Raleigh had a flashback and then Mako became lost in her memories in a post-traumatic stress induced trip down memory lane.
Aside from Mako and Raleigh, seeing the other Jaeger pilots was very fun. The whole vibe of them being much more like the fighter pilots of older wars, the machismo of nearly every pilot introduced was delightful!
The rest of the cast was incredible as well. I especially adored seeing Mr Burn Gorman coming to the silver screen as the mathematician. I may have loathed the way Torchwood ended, but he was one of the highlights of that series, and he was just as much a treat to watch here as he had been there.
The fact that he along with the other scientist, were able to put aside their scientific pissing match to come together to try and gain vital information pertaining to how to FIGHT the Kaiju had me wanting to cheer in my seat. So rare is it that in a scifi/monster flick that such things are accomplished, it seems.
Overall, this is a movie I would LOVE to see again, and fully intend to if at all possible. Take your kids, take your family, take your current significant other--I don't care who you take but SEE THIS MOVIE. SEE IT.
SEEEEEEE IIIIIIIT.
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