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patentdragonFirst things first: PACIFIC RIM.
I have never been so "edge-of-my-seat" when a movie begins. Not even AVENGERS managed this. I was delighted when the full force of IMAX sound pinned me back in my chair...
...but somehow, the visuals were... fuzzy. Was this a flaw in the IMAX process? (Could be.) Was I, on the hottest day of the year, somewhat dehydrated? (No, the pre-start IMAX 3D visuals were razor-sharp, as was the PACIFIC RIM trailer I saw when I went to the same IMAX screen to see Star Trek Into Darkness.) I really want to see the movie again on a regular screen to be sure, but I just thought I'd put that out there, as it did impact a small degree on my enjoyment of the movie.
Okay. That said, I can otherwise confirm, without fear of contradiction, that PACIFIC RIM did EXACTLY "what it says on the tin". With the first fifteen minutes setting the scene - the Breach, the Kaiju, the Jaegers, and fallen hero Raleigh Beckett - and doing it splendidly, the rest of the movie just gets on with doing what it needs to do. After several years of Jaeger-based Kaiju management, the united world has had a change of heart, building a massive wall to contain the Kaiju menace, and decommissioning the Jaeger program to help pay for it. However, as a new category of Kaiju begin to emerge, and make a mockery of the "Kaiju Wall", all that remains of the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps - just four of the giant mech Jaegers, and their crews from China, Russia, Australia and the US - have to undertake a last, insane mission to try and end the Kaiju threat forever...
This is not a movie that sprinkles glimpses of action through a "human story" - "Oh, look what war does to people, oh, the humanity etc." The characters are people, with their own back-stories, some of which are explored to some degree - such as Kaiju-orphaned Jaeger-pilot-to-be Mako Mori and her adoptive father, Marshal Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba earning himself a serious shout for Bad-Ass Of The Year) - but the battle is, in the end, everything, and we are in no way short-changed. Humanity is very much on the back foot, and it gets worse as the behaviour of the Kaiju changes drastically, and the Jaeger "fleet" takes a serious knock, from which there seems to be no return. Is the Earth doomed, and has a dangerous experiment to learn more about the enemy just hastened that doom...?
Find out for yourselves, Dear Readers. You owe it to yourselves to do that.
Guillermo del Toro knows what a film of this kind should be like. The Jaegers have real weight, and at no time make you think of the "actors in suits" of the Godzilla and Ultraman eras. They feel huge, their movements suggest something of considerable mass - oh, and there are launch sequences, in the Gerry Anderson style, which are a joy to behold. Once again, we're given the 3D conversion treatment, but after the first stunning few minutes of Kaiju/Jaeger action, you just don't sense it any more, and at that point I decided I'd had my fill of 3D conversions. They simply don't work - if any movie was going to convince me otherwise, this would be it, and it didn't - but that shouldn't be seen as a failing of the movie itself, unless you serious begrudge paying the extra (and I was paying for the IMAX experience, actually, and I got my money's worth!).
Some are saying that the lack of "star names" has hurt the movie at the US box-office (THIRD - yes THIRD ($37.3m) behind Despicable Me 2 and some sequel crap from Adam sodding Sandler), but why? You have to PAY for people like Tom Cruise, who would have smeared "Top Gun with robots! Top Gun with robots!" all over this movie, at the cost of a chunk of FX budget, and THEN what would we have? Seriously, America, this is exactly why we can't have nice things. Every performance in PACIFIC RIM is at worst adequate, and the majority are just fine, thank you - and then remember that we have a delightfully over-the-top Ron Perlman, for fnaj's sake...
(Oh, and anyone moaning on about how butt-hurt they were by the Transformers movies, and can only see the work of Michael Bay reflected in what they've seen in the trailers, should just 1) shut up, and 2) go and see this damn movie for yourselves. End of rantlet.)
And big respect to Torchwood alum Burn "Owen Harper" Gorman for totally immersing himself in manic scientist and kaiju expert Gottlieb. Didn't realise it was him until the titles rolled.
So, in conclusion, what do we have? A derivative knock-off fest, or something truly great? There are a whole heap of influences, obvious from the start, but the movie is built on "its own bones", telling its own story without having to feed off of others. Movie of the year? Close, I'd say, but there were those visual problems in IMAX - which I won't hold against it.
I was more than satisfied. Nice to see dedications to Ray Harryhausen and Godzilla maestro Ishiro Honda, but no Gerry Anderson? A shame, but certainly not a lethal wound.
Rock on, Mister del Toro.
The Final Verdict... delivers an elbow-rocket assisted punch to the face of most of several summers' big movies. An absolute thrill-ride. 9/10 (provisional, pending second viewing on a regular screen)
Meanwhile... Yes, you heard me right - Spiritwalk II. August 12th, The B52's in Glasgow - last time, I had years to prepare. This time, almost exactly one month...
I have never been so "edge-of-my-seat" when a movie begins. Not even AVENGERS managed this. I was delighted when the full force of IMAX sound pinned me back in my chair...
...but somehow, the visuals were... fuzzy. Was this a flaw in the IMAX process? (Could be.) Was I, on the hottest day of the year, somewhat dehydrated? (No, the pre-start IMAX 3D visuals were razor-sharp, as was the PACIFIC RIM trailer I saw when I went to the same IMAX screen to see Star Trek Into Darkness.) I really want to see the movie again on a regular screen to be sure, but I just thought I'd put that out there, as it did impact a small degree on my enjoyment of the movie.
Okay. That said, I can otherwise confirm, without fear of contradiction, that PACIFIC RIM did EXACTLY "what it says on the tin". With the first fifteen minutes setting the scene - the Breach, the Kaiju, the Jaegers, and fallen hero Raleigh Beckett - and doing it splendidly, the rest of the movie just gets on with doing what it needs to do. After several years of Jaeger-based Kaiju management, the united world has had a change of heart, building a massive wall to contain the Kaiju menace, and decommissioning the Jaeger program to help pay for it. However, as a new category of Kaiju begin to emerge, and make a mockery of the "Kaiju Wall", all that remains of the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps - just four of the giant mech Jaegers, and their crews from China, Russia, Australia and the US - have to undertake a last, insane mission to try and end the Kaiju threat forever...
This is not a movie that sprinkles glimpses of action through a "human story" - "Oh, look what war does to people, oh, the humanity etc." The characters are people, with their own back-stories, some of which are explored to some degree - such as Kaiju-orphaned Jaeger-pilot-to-be Mako Mori and her adoptive father, Marshal Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba earning himself a serious shout for Bad-Ass Of The Year) - but the battle is, in the end, everything, and we are in no way short-changed. Humanity is very much on the back foot, and it gets worse as the behaviour of the Kaiju changes drastically, and the Jaeger "fleet" takes a serious knock, from which there seems to be no return. Is the Earth doomed, and has a dangerous experiment to learn more about the enemy just hastened that doom...?
Find out for yourselves, Dear Readers. You owe it to yourselves to do that.
Guillermo del Toro knows what a film of this kind should be like. The Jaegers have real weight, and at no time make you think of the "actors in suits" of the Godzilla and Ultraman eras. They feel huge, their movements suggest something of considerable mass - oh, and there are launch sequences, in the Gerry Anderson style, which are a joy to behold. Once again, we're given the 3D conversion treatment, but after the first stunning few minutes of Kaiju/Jaeger action, you just don't sense it any more, and at that point I decided I'd had my fill of 3D conversions. They simply don't work - if any movie was going to convince me otherwise, this would be it, and it didn't - but that shouldn't be seen as a failing of the movie itself, unless you serious begrudge paying the extra (and I was paying for the IMAX experience, actually, and I got my money's worth!).
Some are saying that the lack of "star names" has hurt the movie at the US box-office (THIRD - yes THIRD ($37.3m) behind Despicable Me 2 and some sequel crap from Adam sodding Sandler), but why? You have to PAY for people like Tom Cruise, who would have smeared "Top Gun with robots! Top Gun with robots!" all over this movie, at the cost of a chunk of FX budget, and THEN what would we have? Seriously, America, this is exactly why we can't have nice things. Every performance in PACIFIC RIM is at worst adequate, and the majority are just fine, thank you - and then remember that we have a delightfully over-the-top Ron Perlman, for fnaj's sake...
(Oh, and anyone moaning on about how butt-hurt they were by the Transformers movies, and can only see the work of Michael Bay reflected in what they've seen in the trailers, should just 1) shut up, and 2) go and see this damn movie for yourselves. End of rantlet.)
And big respect to Torchwood alum Burn "Owen Harper" Gorman for totally immersing himself in manic scientist and kaiju expert Gottlieb. Didn't realise it was him until the titles rolled.
So, in conclusion, what do we have? A derivative knock-off fest, or something truly great? There are a whole heap of influences, obvious from the start, but the movie is built on "its own bones", telling its own story without having to feed off of others. Movie of the year? Close, I'd say, but there were those visual problems in IMAX - which I won't hold against it.
I was more than satisfied. Nice to see dedications to Ray Harryhausen and Godzilla maestro Ishiro Honda, but no Gerry Anderson? A shame, but certainly not a lethal wound.
Rock on, Mister del Toro.
The Final Verdict... delivers an elbow-rocket assisted punch to the face of most of several summers' big movies. An absolute thrill-ride. 9/10 (provisional, pending second viewing on a regular screen)
Meanwhile... Yes, you heard me right - Spiritwalk II. August 12th, The B52's in Glasgow - last time, I had years to prepare. This time, almost exactly one month...
