Pacific Rim

Ladies you can skip this review. This is for the man-child or man-children or whatever.

This movie is homage to those cheesy Godzilla movies cranked out by the Japanese in the 1960’s. Godzilla was some guy in a rubber suite flaying around killing Mothra or destroying office buildings. This movie is a bit of an upgrade influenced by the Manga culture (Japanese comic books). Kaijus monsters, the size of buildings, attack the planet destroying cities bent on world domination. To battle the Kaijus human depend on Jaegers (not the drink) which are robots the size of buildings also. The Jaegers are so large they need two pilots operating the machinery in unison from the inside (just like old Godzilla). It was very silly to see how the pilots maneuvered the Jaegers. For the Jaeger to walk the pilots actually move their legs and to fight they move their arms inside the Jaeger. I guess these guys never heard of hydraulics.

The director Guillermo del Toro, is one of the best Sci Fi/ fantasy directors around. He directed Pan's Labyrinth  and the Hell Boy movies among others. Visually this film is full of action and epic battles. The film is like an expensive version of the cartoon show Dragon Ball. The actors are grade B, which is good enough. A recognizable actor is Charlie Day. This is the dental hygienist  from Horrible Bosses who refused to be sexually ravished by Jennifer Ashton (schmuck). Charlie plays a scientist who is an expert on Kaijus anatomy. Idris Elba is the guy who played the captain in the movie Prometheus and had a go with Charliz Theron (Yes!). He is the very serious chief of the Jaeger operation. He is so stiff he can imitate a 2 x 4. Rinko Kikuchi is the gender breaker female pilot. I have no idea who she is but she is easy on the eyes. Ron Perlman (Hell Boy himself) has a small role as a black marketer in Kaijus carcasses as Aphrodisiacs, yuk?

The film actually has a plot, but I will not to spoil it for you. I am not sure if there will be a Pacific Rim 2. But if you are nostalgic for Godzilla flicks or collected Dragon Ball trading cards go see the movie. This may be the latest in kitsch.