PACIFIC RIM
review by
ANIZ FILMVALA
*****
STORY.
The Jaeger program is initially successful in fending off kaiju attacks and at first turns the tide of the war. However, over time, kaiju cross through the portal at a faster rate, with each new kaiju becoming increasingly well-adapted for fighting against the Jaegers. As such, the robots become less and less effective, causing the now-united governments of Earth to lose faith in the Jaegers' ability to defend humanity. The Jaeger program is terminated, with resources diverted to building the "Wall of Hope", a coastal fortification to protect Earth's cities. The four of the remaining Jaegers are redeployed to Hong Kong to defend the unfortified coastline until the wall can be completed. Stacker Pentecost, the commander of the Jaeger forces, devises a plan to end the war once and for all with an illegally-acquired Russian nuclear warhead.
Pentecost approaches former pilot Raleigh Becket and convinces him to return to the program. Becket and his brother Yancy had once been pilots of Gipsy Danger and tasked with defending the Alaskan coastline. During a mission, they ignored an order and engaged a kaiju directly. Yancy was torn from the cockpit while still connected to his brother, and the experience traumatized Raleigh. Upon returning to the program, Raleigh goes through a rigorous process of testing to find a new co-pilot, since the stronger the connection between two pilots, the better their performance in battle. Raleigh demands to be partnered with Mako Mori, a test pilot whose participation Pentecost opposes, as Mako is his adoptive daughter. He eventually relents and allows her to partner Raleigh. The couple's initial test run nearly ends in disaster when Mako gets caught up in a memory of an encounter with a kaiju as a child and inadvertently activates and nearly discharges Gipsy Danger's primary weapons system while still in the hangar. The two are withdrawn from the field indefinitely as the remaining Jaegers are tasked with fending off a dual kaiju attack. The defense of Hong Kong goes poorly, with the kaiju quickly destroying two Jaegers and disabling a third. Pentecost has no choice but to authorize Raleigh and Mako to mount a last stand, and the two drive off the assault.
Meanwhile, Dr. Newton Geizler—a scientist studying the kaiju—assembles a machine that allows him to establish a mental link with a fragment of a kaiju brain in the same way that Jaeger pilots connect with one another. The experience nearly kills him, but he discovers that the kaiju are actually genetically-bred weapons sent to Earth as an invading force to allow their masters to colonize the planet. With Pentecost's approval, he seeks out Hannibal Chau, a major figure in the trade of illegal kaiju parts, in an attempt to get a new kaiju brain to repeat the experiment. Chau criticises Geizler's foolishness in merging with the kaiju brain, as he has now attracted their attention, and the kaiju attacking Hong Kong are specifically seeking him out. After Gipsy Danger kills the kaiju attacking the city, Chau and his crew of poachers move in to harvest parts. Geizler realises, too late, that the kaiju is pregnant, and Chau and his crew are attacked by the newborn baby kaiju. The baby is unable to survive outside the womb and dies after eating Chau. This allows Geizler and his skeptical colleague Hermann Gottlieb to merge with the baby kaiju's brain, where they discover the secret controlling the flow of kaiju through the portal.
The Jaeger forces reassemble, planning to use the nuclear warhead to destroy the portal once and for all. Pentecost, revealed to have been one of the original Jaeger pilots, takes command of Striker Eureka as one of its usual pilots was injured during the defence of Hong Kong. Pentecost ventures out into the ocean depths, with Raleigh and Mako supporting him aboard Gispy Danger. Geizler and Gottleib inform them that the portal has a fail-safe system to control the passage of kaiju, which will only allow them entry if they can mimic the genetic code of a kaiju. Before they can process this information, they are attacked by a pack of kaiju, including the largest kaiju in recorded history. Pentecost detonates the warhead, destroying his Jaeger and its pilots, in order to kill the remaining kaiju guarding the portal. Raleigh and Mako seize the corpse of a dead kaiju and use it to pass through the portal, intending to overload Gipsy Danger's nuclear reactor to use it as an improvised bomb. With the Jaeger critically damaged from the fight, Raleigh ejects Mako and manually overrides Gipsy Danger's safety protocols before ejecting himself. Gipsy Danger detonates on the other side of the portal, destroying it and the alien commanders, as the two pilots emerge safely back on the Earth's surface.
In a post-credits scene, Chau is revealed to have survived being eaten by the baby kaiju.
CRITIC VIEW.
Mexican Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro who has given us popular American horror flicks like Hellboy and Hellboy II, this time has got another disaster alien mega thriller for his audience Pacific Rim.A blockbuster made on a mammoth budget of $180m.
Virtually the story has been evident in other American movies save the earth from alien attacks,just to add some spectacular images of man made robots vs giant alien arizona is the magic mantra in this mindless alien war epic.Though the 3D effect which was added in post-production does not give the much desired adrenaline for a tideous 131 minutes.
The movies highlight [unlike other Hollywood blockbuster] is that it has been shot in various location leaving behind US cities from yet another apocalypse.
CAST.
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
Produced by Thomas Tull,Jon Jashni,Guillermo del Toro,Mary Parent
Screenplay by Travis Beacham,Guillermo del Toro
Story by Travis Beacham
Starring Charlie Hunnam,Idris Elba,Rinko Kikuchi,Charlie Day,Rob Kazinsky,Max Martini,Ron Perlman
Music by Ramin Djawadi
Cinematography Guillermo Navarro
Editing by Peter Amundson,John Gilroy
Studio Legendary Pictures
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
