Our review of the first giant fighting mech movie from writer/director Guillermo del Toro, which hopefully won’t be the last. Because as good as this one is, there’s serious room for improvement.
Our review of the first giant fighting mech movie from writer/director Guillermo del Toro, which hopefully won’t be the last. Because as good as this one is, there’s serious room for improvement.
After seeing this movie twice myself, I want somebody to green light a Mazinger Z movie immediately. Yeah, there’s no marquee value for it in the U.S., but it has an immensely likable main hero (even if he’s an idiot) and it has the giant robot that created and perfected the rocket punch! Someone good, please, get going on this!
Getting back to the film at hand, I’m going to join in the realm of people who say that this was a breath of fresh air in this year’s movie pool and probably the best blockbuster I’ve seen this summer. I hope this thing does gangbusters on DVD (since it’s too late for it to become a game-changing hit that will revive the Kaiju Eiga genre) and send Kikuchi, Gorman, Hunnam and Day into bigger and better roles.
Also, quick question: Do you think Toho is giving Edwards extremely close oversight after the 1998 debacle? I feel that they would, especially given the fact Edwards’ movie will be released on the Big G’s 60th anniversary. If not, let’s just cross our fingers and pray the film turns out well.
I remember you mentioning something about…ah, yes – Impossible Christmas List Day 11. Personally, I expect someone to make a Gundam movie before too awful long. Especially if the whitewashing of Akira‘s ever made…and if it manages to make any amount of money…and if snow starts falling in the parts of Hell that aren’t connected to the frozen lake. Of all the fighting mech properties in the world, Gundam has the longest legs and the most genuine marquee value. Run-of-the-mill critics, blindsided by Pacific Rim have referenced it and Robotech far more than they’ve referenced your beloved Mazinger or my beloved You Can (Not) Advance. That, and Power Rangers… but we’ll forgive them their ignorance, won’t we? Yes.
I definitely join you in hoping the cast and crew survive whatever horrible fate awaits those whose movie came in second to Grown Ups 2. Del Toro’s had a string of bad luck since Hellboy 2 and it doesn’t look like that’s abated, at least not financially. Maybe the Elves are pissed at him for the way he depicted their royalty. I will say it was the most fun I’ve had with one of his since Hellboy 1, so his directing talents are obviously immune to their ancient magick. I just wish he could write better characters – lead characters who stood out for something other than the actor’s performances. But he’s one of those guys, he just likes to cast well and then get the fuck outta the way, which is what smart people say you’re supposed to do, and it’s still worked more often than it doesn’t. This one was close, though. Thank the gods for Idris.
As to G2014, here’s my quick answer: my fingers have been crossed since they announced the sucker in 2010.
My not-so-quick answer: Hell, since I first started hearing rumors about it, back in the Darkest Days of Summer 2009, when Revenge of the Fallen held sway over all and I needed every crumb of hope I could get….But, then again, I kept my fingers crossed all throughout the 90s, and you can see how much that helped.
One thing I learned during and after that debacle you mentioned: Toho doesn’t give a fuck about us. As a market, for them (and thus for Godzilla), the United States is a loss-leader at best. Movie studios can still own theaters out in Japan, so they’ve got their market cornered. And, unlike their American counterparts, they’re happy to struggle against the likes of Daiei and Nikkatsu – long-time local rivals they know they can beat in a fight.
Better to keep your hands off, partner with an international powerhouse – like Sony last time, or Legendary/the WB now – and let them bear 100% of the burden, on both ends. Toho’ll distribute the results locally, regardless of quality, just like last time, and if the fanbase accepts it, great. If not, even better, because then Toho will have a script to follow. Last time, they promptly turned around, revived their own series (again) and spent a decade getting easy applause (and easier money) by giving their American cousin shit. (See fan reaction to a certain line of dialogue in GMK, or a certain fight scene in Final Wars, or all of the terribly bland Godzilla: 2000.)
But we’ll know for certain in a year’s time. Less that, now. I’m excited. This is the part I like – before we know anything for sure. Before we have a product to analyze. And before the fan base divides itself into armed camps that arguing past each other way longer than they need to, allowing corporations to exploit us. They Live, We Sleep.
Interesting commentary about the film in relation to it not being a white-washing of Evangelion. Mostly because the film would be a lot worse if it was anything like Eva.
Eva has precisely three things going for it: 1)Stylish animation, 2)Giant Monsters 3)Giant Robots (which are technically monsters as well, but we can let that slide).
The rest is a pretentious cocktail of unlikable, unrelateable, wildly implausible pseudo-characters and a main character so far up his father’s asshole his doctors are considering a drastic variation of caesarian section.
As far as Pacific Rim goes, from a writing standpoint the characters may be shallow, in that their spoken dialogue is straightforward, but what isn’t spoken of the characters is shown onscreen. From the blue highlights of Mako’s hair being a constant visual reminder of her blue childhood memory, to the body language of the Russian pilots (including the possessive, almost domineering, role of the woman over her husband), even down to the red shoe representing Mako’s heart, and Pentecost symbolically handing it back to her, as if to say, “your heart is your own.”
It’s a visually smart way of conveying characters, while the writing keeps it simple enough to not bog down or distract too much from the events of the film (robots fighting monsters).
I think you’re right overall though, that subsequent movies will be better.
Hellboy 2: the Golden Army is vastly better than the first because it allows itself the freedom to delve deeper into its scifi-fantasy premise and play around with its characters. As uncynical and respectful Pacific Rim is of its premise, it still had to sell audiences on that premise, and perhaps keeping it simple was the best way to do that. A sequel would be more free to crank the necessary dials incrementally further, and since most of the original characters died, hopefully that means we have room for some newer, more interesting supporting characters.
Despite a less-than-stellar American debut, I think the global numbers indicate that there is an audience for a Pacific Rim franchise and we should see more of it in some form or another. I just hope they change the title. Unless they go with 2Pacific2Rim Tokyo Drift.
Well, whatever the sequel’s called, it certainly won’t be Atlantic Rim. That one’s already been taken.
There was nothing that good here, it was an impressive display of visual effects, nothing more. Every time somebody talked, or tried to it was painful to endure. Del Toro is like Tim Burton , he has a nice sense of aesthetics, good imagery, but he’s clueless when it comes to tell a story. I’m also amazed by how terrible every actor was, and when even actors that you know competent from previous works suck this level of abysmal, then you know you’re actually dealing with a terrible actors director.
Sorry you feel that way.