thomasjay-52277 I once found this film mesmerising and magical however there's no rewatch value. The characters are poor and at points things become a bit of a mess story wise. One of Del Toro's weaker films but not all bad, a true passion project with a good sequel it's worth a watch just for the sake of it

Paul Evans Having been told I had to go and see the new one I thought I'd better catch up on the original, to know what is going on at least. Having watched it that clarity isn't exactly clear, as I didn't know what was going on. If I'm honest I didn't care much, as plot wasn't exactly the focus, it certainly was action packed, didn't drag, and very much started off as it continued.It's of course intensely over the top, I expected the man made robots to be high fiving and woop wooing as they took down the monsters, what do you expect?Some fun performances, some dodgy ones, I'll let you decide on which is which. Luther himself looked totally out of place, in a role he obviously did for the cash, Elba did nothing here to enhance his acting credibility, but his charisma is obvious.Like I say it's a pile of pants, it's uber trashy, but somehow it's an exciting sci fi romp. 6/10

mightymothra Pacific Rim is a wonderfully straightforward mecha flick with a surprisingly well-realized universe. Del Toro goes way beyond the expected in creating unique, lived-in, awesome locations that could only exist in Pacific Rim's goofy universe. Entire blocks of city were build on hydrolics, within hangers, to give thundering kaiju monsters the heft and vibrational implact they deserve. It makes all the difference to see puddles of water rippling with each stomp, and see buildings shaking.Beyond the sheer craftsman, I adore how fully this movie embraces its macho bravado. The music is all guitar riffs and swelling fist pumping anthems, the fights scenes are chalk-full of pilots barking orders and fun one-lines. the mechs are these delightfully ugly hunks-a-junks, all pistons and metal plates and dangling wires. It absolutely rules. The cockpits are another thing Del Toro had build in real life, on hydralic pistons, so that the actors could get tossed around and doused with water. Again, it makes all the difference. This movie invites you to enjoy some big dumb apes wail on space dinosaurs with rocket fists. It embraces the absurdity of their universe and goes whole hogg with it.I also particularly love how, at no point in this movie, does it celebrate what you'd expect from a macho flick - this isn't all about the nobility of men sacrificing themselves to protect women, or about mocking men for emoting or showing weakness. The cast is littered with strong people in desperate situations, trying help each other out and tap into inner motivation, rather than "toughen each other up" with repressive garbage. Characters are shown being weak, being scared, and ultimately, overcoming it all to become who they want. It's a simple message, but lordy am I glad to see it dodge all the pitfalls you'd normally see in a flick like this.All actors give frankly wonderful performances. I could go into that more, but Perlman, Kikuchi, Eldba, and Day stick out to me as being particularly great. Everyone treats this ridiculous universe with absolute conviction, and it really sells it.Only negatives I can really point out are the fact that a lot of the battles are in pouring rain, which eh, is not my favorite thing. Also, Cherno Alpha and Crimson Typhoon don't get nearly as much screen time as we all desperately wanted. Maybe they hit that budget wall.So yeah, absolutely, whole-hearted recommended. This movie is a joy.

Ersbel Oraph This is the wet dream of a stalinist. there is no reason, although some emotions are built to mimic some sort of shallow logic. but the rest is everything about getting together to weave the better hive. how everybody and everything got together against an enemy built, like all western apocalyptic narratives, after the model of satan: chaotic, out of nowhere, and very powerful. and all the humans have to do is admit they are simply cogs in a bigger machine, of course, like all despots "for the sake of everybody".