Pacific Rim - Grading and Discussion

[Tulin]

I was planning on simply skipping this movie but now I am filled with doubt.

If you just want an EXTREMELY fun night at the cinema, without all the emo hand-wringing and annoying self-importance of Nolan's films where very clear good battle very clear evil, then........go and see it!

There were times when I just laughed out loud, not because it was funny, rather I was feeling pure JOY at what I was seeing!


HUGELY recommended!!!

 

[Tulin]

Yeah, I suppose you could nitpick the logic behind using giant robots to fight monsters as well as why they need two pilots in a mind meld, but the concept is fun and you find yourself more accepting as the movie progresses.

I was more referring to them never explaining why the robots can't walk on water!

Which I'm fine with, they just ignore it.

Sorry but I have already expressed my ignorance of the genre but why would you expect a million ton(?)robot to be able to walk on water?

I much preferred the images of them wading through the ocean.

 

[Shaka Zulu]

I saw it Thursday night.

Best Kaiju movie EVER!!!

Ditto, I saw it on Thursday night as well (thanks to Cineplex for the free movie due to my having a SCENE card that gives me points!) It was just as great as all of the other movies this summer.

 

[PlainSimpleJoel]

Saw it on Thursday when it opened here. Great - but not brilliant. Still entertaining.

 

[DWF]

An utterly incredible movie and at times it was more than I expected it to be, but even though the ending was rather predictable it was an incredibly entertaining movie. And I loved it that the film was dedicated Ray Harryhausen and Ishiro Honda. And the final line it too funny for words.

 

[SG-17]

It was everything I was hoping for and more. I was in amazement the entire time. It perfectly balanced the kaiju/mech scenes and the human scenes. I felt like a kid again watching it, like the first time I watched a Godzilla film. I can't wait to see what Legendary does with the new Godzilla film.

 

[Yminale]

Can't wait to see this film.

I saw it Thursday night.

Best Kaiju movie EVER!!!

Better than the original Gojira?

Warning Lame excuse!!

I consider Gojira not a Kaiju move because of it's strong anti-nuclear weapons message and in the same category as Silent Running and 2001.

 

[Goji]

Loved it from start to finish. Idris Elba and Ron Perlman steal every scene they are in. I'm definitely glad I stayed through the credits, for the biggest laugh of the movie.

 

[Yminale]

Hey I have a question to all the people who watched the movie. Assuming this movie makes a boatload of money, where should the series go. I like to see an adaption of the comic "Pacific Rim:Tales from Year zero".

 

[Agent Richard07]

Hey I have a question to all the people who watched the movie. Assuming this movie makes a boatload of money, where should the series go. I like to see an adaption of the comic "Pacific Rim:Tales from Year zero".

Spoiler: The Sequel

In July 2013, del Toro discussed the sequel, stating: "The main idea that we're bouncing off is the fact that Newt drifted with a Kaiju brain, and all Kaiju brains are connected. We say that. They are like a hive mentality. So, you know, draw your own conclusions." - Source

 

[Christopher]

I consider Gojira not a Kaiju move because of it's strong anti-nuclear weapons message and in the same category as Silent Running and 2001.

Well, that doesn't make a lot of sense. A number of Godzilla movies have anti-nuclear or environmental messages. GMK in particular is a powerful anti-war statement. True, none of the later movies are quite as potent or harrowing as the original, but many try to be somewhat in the same vein.

 

[RAMA]

Utterly fantastic movie. Despite the genre it's in, this movie still made Tranformers look like a kiddie flick. There are a bunch of characters that you care about, and even the scientific mumbo jumbo plays out as believable within that world. But let's get to it, if I didn't know before, this movie confirms I'm a techno-freak...the sheer size, movement, sophistication of the machinery in this film is mind-blowing. From articulated pilot waldoes, to holographic cockpits, to pistons, ports, and bolts moving in every direction this movie was a delight to behold. It's all those animated giant robot movies fused into one. I kept expecting cringe-worthy moments: bad acting, bad dialogue, stupid leaps in logic, there just were none. It's the best acted and finely crafted monster movie ever, and gives many a pretentious, non-monster/giant robot scifi movie a run for their money. Without a doubt, an A+. Aside from 4 Star Trek movies, this will be the first time I see a movie in the theater twice. I'll be going again Sunday.

RAMA

 

[Yminale]

Well, that doesn't make a lot of sense. A number of Godzilla movies have anti-nuclear or environmental messages. GMK in particular is a powerful anti-war statement. True, none of the later movies are quite as potent or harrowing as the original, but many try to be somewhat in the same vein.

But that's the point. Gojira was intensely focused and serious at the time. Gojira is close to Pan's Labyrinth than to Pacific Rim

 

[Yminale]

I kept expecting cringe-worthy moments: bad acting, bad dialogue, stupid leaps in logic, there just were none.

RAMA

Well there was the "Wall of Life". Even a kid would know that it's the stupidest idea ever.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

Stop reading this and go see Pacific Rim. It is, for lack of a better word, awesome! It's just awesome from start to finish. I don't need to say anything more. I dug every second of this movie and everybody needs to see this thing. Seriously. Go see it.

 

[Sagart]

Huge fun!! Possibly my favourite movie this year (so far!).

 

[davejames]

I think I'd have to give it a B+ myself.

Yes the battles and effects were truly spectacular, the score was fantastic (can't wait to download it), and I loved the world-building and all the little design details that went into the movie.... but there were still some things that kept me from fully loving it.

I just didn't find the characters all that compelling, and the dialogue was a little too corny and simplistic for my taste. Yeah I get that it's the anime style, and they did a great job emulating it, but it still just didn't really grab me. And after awhile the sameness of the battles and the Kaiju started to sap my enthusiasm as well. Every fight seemed to take place in the rain or in the water, and the Kaiju all just looked like slight variations of the same design. I was really hoping we'd get a LOT more variety than that.


Oh, and this probably isn't a good sign, but my XD theater was less than half-full. Which I usually don't see with movies showing on that screen on opening day...

 

[Christopher]

But that's the point. Gojira was intensely focused and serious at the time. Gojira is close to Pan's Labyrinth than to Pacific Rim

Which has nothing to do with whether or not it's a kaiju film. Kaiju is simply the Japanese word for "strange creature," i.e. "monster." Godzilla is a Japanese movie about a monster, therefore it's a kaiju movie. It's just a more serious kaiju movie than most of its successors.

 

[Yminale]

Which has nothing to do with whether or not it's a kaiju film.

I think you are being too literal. Gojira transcends other Kaiju film because it uses the giant monster as allegory while other films it's just mindless entertainment.

 

[Christopher]

^But that's where you're wrong. There are other kaiju films where Godzilla is an allegory, or where the creatures he's fighting are allegories. Mothra is a critique of corporate greed and the cultural/economic imperialism of the West. Godzilla vs. Biollante is a cautionary tale about biotechnology and genetic engineering, while several other kaiju films have environmentalist themes (Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth is particularly heavy-handed about it, while Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II manages a more nuanced discussion of technology vs. nature). GMK is a condemnation of the Japanese's people's complacency and willful denial about their forebears' crimes in WWII.

Certainly the 1954 original is the most potent and sophisticated allegory, but it's completely false to say it's the only allegory in the series. Heck, even Godzilla vs. Hedorah, in the heart of the cheesiest, goofiest era of the series, is noted for being an anti-pollution allegory.