I just got back from seeing Pacific Rim.
Every mistake that can made by a big budget, effects driven action movie has been made by Roland Emmerich. Every single time at bat, he has struck out -- despite the inexplicable commercial success of Independence Day. All of his movies just suck. ID4, 2012, 10,000 BC, Godzilla, The Day After Tomorrow, etc. The man simply cannot make a movie that any rational human being should want to sit through.
Guillermo del Toro, is a very smart director who has given us The Devil's Backbone, Pan's Labyrinth, and Hellboy (1 & 2). With Pacific Rim, he managed to, with one movie, correct every cinema desecrating blunder Roland Emmerich ever made.
Pacific Rim is a sublime masterpiece of unadulterated giant monster vs. giant robot fun that manages to honor its genre without ever crossing a line into the world of the stupid, despite including all the tropes you expect in such a film. It sets up a surprisingly simple reality for a world where pan dimensional, improbably huge monsters attack Earth, and Earth responds with equally improbable Mech Warrior-esque robots... and manages to play by its own rules -- unlike so many other epic fantasy/sci-fi offerings.
It has the self destruct sequence that fails and has to be executed manually... it has the top gunner threatened by the hotshot pilot that bends the rules (even including an Iceman vs. Maverick throwdown)... It has the iconic landmark spectacularly destroyed... it has the scientist nobody believes who is ultimately right... it has self sacrifice, the rookie prodigy, a St. Crispin's Day Speech... and you never feel like you've seen it all before despite having seen it all before. It feels fresh, original, suspenseful, relentless, global, and emotionally invested in real three dimensional characters who you can really like and care about... and it does all that without muddying up the plot with a sappy romantic subplot.
It's better than Man of Steel... Iron Man 3... The Hobbit... in fact, it's actually better than nearly anything this sweeping I've seen in years. It's far better than any Micheal Bay slugfest... and unlike the abysmal Transformers movies, the cutting and cinematography allow you to really follow and enjoy the complex fight mechanics of the big action set pieces.
And you won't be disappointed by the acting. Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy) delivers a very natural and relate-able hero, and manages to do a lot of heavy lifting. Idris Elba teaches a class on how to be far and away better than Bill Pullman's turn in Independence Day. Charlie Day is kinetic and frenzied, which is what he's good at, and ultimately funny and likable and unexpectedly heroic. American audiences should finally fall in love with Rinko Kikuchi, who is smart, strong, and even in a full suit of armor, unbelievably sexy. And Ron Pearlman... well, what do I need to say about him?
If you don't go and see this movie on the screen, you are doing a great disservice to yourself. It is staggering and deeply satisfying in every way, without dipping into the gritty realism (that I typically prefer) that weighs down films like The Dark Knight (note: I do love The Dark Knight).
It's a big, loud, exploding popcorn movie -- minus all the dumb that kills far lesser popcorn movies -- and none of the pretense that attempts to lend a veneer of nobility (I'm looking at you, Man of Steel) its big budget rivals. See it. See it now. See it even if you don't think you'd like it, because you'll love it. It is exactly what a summer blockbuster is supposed to be.
(And proof that if you let smart directors make smart movies the way they want to make them, you'll get better, more satisfying movies)
