Guillermo del Toro, thankfully, never disappoints his slavishly devoted film groupies. The futuristic “Pacific Rim” gloriously shows his quintessential touch, by reflecting his rich poetic fantasy and testerone filled imagination. That and so much more is up on the screen in this nonstop raucous filled visual feast of filmmaking.
Who knew that monsters fighting robots and the layered characters that save the earth could become a true summer experience that fulfills what so many movies so far this year have unfortunately not. “Rim” is scary, smart and scientific, with humor weaved in throughout. The visual effects are stunningly believable and artistic in every scene. The way cute and capable Charlie Hunnam plays a former Jaeger pilot Raleigh Becket, Jaegers being the massive robots the humans built to defeat those pesky alien ocean creatures. Idris Elba always is perfection and he is again here. The gravitas he portrays playing the seasoned professional marshaling his forces for one last stand against the creatures is the emotional vortex of the story.
Scene-stealers Charlie Day and Burn Gorman are the Laurel and Hardy version of the nerdy to the rescue scientists. Veteran actor Ron Perlman has a terrific comic turn as the black market evildoer. Rinko Kikuchi plays the young Japanese protégé with heartbreaking secrets of her own.
Del Toro’s films are always filled with detail and carefully thought out, there is art and skill here, the way it should be. Not these awful so-called blockbusters we’ve been forced to sit through, hear that “Lone Ranger,” “Man Of Steel,” “White House Down,” well the list goes on. The Academy should hand the Oscars for Visual, Animation and Sound Effects to Del Toro’s team right now. Del Toro’s artistic integrity and his otherworldly mastery creates magic, excitement and good old fashion fun. Get ready for the “Pacific Rim” movie ride; it’s the best one to go on this summer.
