Pacific Rim Review

The head of a Jaeger

Hey everybody! As always, I'm Ryan Howitzer and you're in The Line of Fire! The other day, my dad and I went out to see one of my most anticipated movies of the summer, Guillermo Del Toro's sci-fi mech vs monster masterpiece Pacific Rim. With this awesome movie, Del Toro once again proves that he is indeed a friend of us nerds. This movie had monsters, mechs, and Ron Perlman. What more could any self-respecting nerd ask for? Anyway, let's get into some of the details of the movie.

Believe it or not, this movie is more than just fight scenes. It actually has a well thought-out story. The main story of the movie is that humanity has been at war with a monster race called the Kaiju for years.

One of the many beautiful Kaiju

 Early on in the war, mechs were developed called Jaegers (which are piloted by two people connected by a mental bridge), but now the monsters have adapted and are able to defeat Jaegers. The defeats are so devastating that the government decides to shut down the Jaeger program. this leads Marshal Stacker Pentecost, the head of the program (played by Idris Elba) to gather the remaining Jaegers for a final assault on the Kaiju. to do this, he recruits a washed up Jaeger pilot named Raleigh Becket (played by Charlie Hunnam).

 Becket resigned five years prior after the death of his co-pilot and brother Yancy. I won't give away the rest of the story, but needless to say, it's awesome. It could have gone a bit lighter on the exposition and some of the war movie cliches, but, all in all, it was a really solid story.

There are many great characters and actors in the film. Charlie Hunnam turns in a great performance as the washed-up but awesome Raleigh Becket. Idris Elba continues to prove his amazing skill as Stacker Pentecost.

Idris Elba as Stacker Pentecost

Rinko Kikuchi is both strong and smoking hot as Mako Mori, a rookie pilot and love interest for Becket.

Mako Mori is hot and awesome

Charlie Day and Burn Gorman are hysterical as the comic relief scientists. The two of them play off each other very nicely. Two other notable characters are veteran pilot Herc Hansen and his cocky son, Chuck (played by Max Martini and Robert Kazinsky respectively). Rounding out the main cast is Ron Perlman as Hannibal Chau, a gangster who named himself after, and I quote, his favorite historical figure and his second-favorite Szechuan restaurant in Brooklyn. All of these actors and characters are great fun. You really do get attached to them as the movie goes.

The effects and fight scenes are straight up awesome! Both the Jaegers and the Kaiju are awesome to look at. They move really well and that makes for some epic fights. The fights that occur outside of mechs are very well-done too. It really makes me wonder what Chris Nolan's excuse for crap fight scenes was when I see fight scenes like the ones in this movie.

All in all, the movie is awesome. There are some very cliche moments here or there, but the awesome fights and entertaining story do make up for them. All in all, Del Toro proved that he is still a nerd's best friend (Well, besides Joss Wheadon of course). If only he'd hurry up and make Hellboy 3. Anyway, Pacific Rim is a solid 8/10. It's definitely worth checking out. Until next time, this is Howitzer reminding you to keep your head down, because you're in The Line of Fire!