Pacific Rim

Rating-9/10

The Good
-Original universe and story.
-Efficient and impressive action.
-Well developed characters

The Bad
-Questionable camera angels during fights.

The films focus is on a future threatened by colossal demons known as Kaiju from a portal beneath the ocean. In response humanity deployed giant mechs called Jaegers, controlled by two pilots sharing a mind link.

The real strength of the film lies in its large scale fights between the different Kaiju and Jaegers, making use of the camera to give a real feeling of size and weight. However this can also work against the film; often shots are too close to tell what’s going on. However the film knows when to pull back and allow the audience to appreciate the designs.
The action felt very efficient; the focus was on the major hits and showing the advanced attacks of the mechs and beasts. Every movement had a point and a purpose.

Story wise the film is very character based. Even the more cliché characters have their own sympathetic storylines, and are given a lot of depth to them. The actors do little to stand out from their roles, but seem very genuine; there were a lot of moments were I was really sold on these characters.
There was also a lot of tension; there were few moments were I wasn’t convinced that a character was going to die or was in trouble.

It’s a very entertaining film, with a ton of originality and style, doing it’s best to establish it’s own world and rules, in an industry were such values hold little weight. Even if you can’t enjoy an action film like this, you can at least appreciate the effort put in by everybody involved.
Pacific Rim is a must for fans of action films, in particular fans of Toho monster flics and mecha anime, but the story is accessible enough for any action fan to enjoy.