Pacific Rim Movie Review

There really isn’t much to say about Pacific Rim. Although the concept of the aliens arriving under the ocean is original, the rest of the story feels borrowed and used. The bridge that opens into another dimension feels so much like Stargate or the more recent Avengers movie. The actions sequences between the Kaeju and Jaegers (pronounced Yay-ger) are reminiscent of the Transformers franchise and the plot itself, seems to be taken straight out of the 1980s Voltes V and Daimos. The dialogue is predictable, the characters, forgettable and the ending is pretty much unsurprising.

The movie will potentially appeal to the hyper-masculine crowd, however. The fight scenes are vigorous and strategic and while there is no blood and gore, you can see tensed muscles straining in combat, which could be enough for every action fan.

The greatest let down in the movie, in my very objective and discriminatory opinion, is the female heroine. She is a stereotype, wanting to break the female in distress stereotype. She wants to be manly and strong while staying delicate and dependent – two extremes that are impossible to mix. The scene where she runs away and hurriedly closes the door on the shirtless main character is just too cheesy for words. What is she? 15 years old?

I don’t think the movie was a total waste though – there were sensible and sentimental moments here and there. The grief for a lost brother, the love of a lost son, the mourning of an orphan child – all these provide fleeting, poignant moments which make the film bearable. Add the fact that the underdog – nerds are responsible for mankind’s survival, makes it all the more watchable.

Pacific Rim is now showing in theaters nationwide.

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