I love movies; in fact, I love movies so much that I would come back as a jaded movie-goer to tell people to go see a movie. And it's not a movie with morally complex themes or poetically sluggish pacing (not that I have anything against them), but a big-budgeted mainstream feature with intentions to sell toys. I'm talking about Pacific Rim, which is amusingly by an auteur who does make movies with complex themes and poetically sluggish pacing from time to time. And it's on the thread title too, so that's kind of expected.
So now for my really informal review:
I finally got to watch Pacific Rim, despite not watching (or having any
hope for) any movie (besides one) made this year; and boy did this movie
make me happy. I'll admit, I haven't seen too many films by Guillermo del Toro
besides Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy, and Blade II, but his craft as a
visual storyteller really shines in this movie. It's big, loud,
extraordinary, and larger than life. It's really something we haven't
seen in a while in movies where its fantasy feels really euphoric and out of this world, when colossal
figures collide against each other, reinforced by powerful sounds,
blaring details of skin and machine, with computer-generated and special
effects, coming at you all at once, and in your face.
But what if you feel that all these visual features are just gimmicks set as a ploy to distract you from what really matters: the story? Like all movies, whether they're the best or the worst, Pacific Rim tells us a story. It's about a fantastical world (and very del Toro-ean world if you will) where man fights monsters with robots so they can survive, and live another day. But it provides casts of characters existing in a story-world laden with loss and destruction to reinforce their meaning to fight, and for the all the "gimmicky" special effects to actually have meaning. The story speaks and everything else is instrumental, but not without a lot of charm; it shares a lot of tropes that anime fans like myself found amused being translated in live-action, and in an American movie. You've got otaku scientists, a wonder-girl, the distant-but-honorable father-figure, creatures described by diction that's isn't ours, and an overall gigantic scope. But like all anime, it falls victim to excessive build-up and exposition; it's like a gigantic tour around the world envisioned by this director. Though I can promise that it will become satisfying when all that build-up explodes into a loud and visceral euphoric bliss, but you really have to like these kinds of things in order to enjoy it.
I really enjoyed it.
So now for my really informal review:
I finally got to watch Pacific Rim, despite not watching (or having any
hope for) any movie (besides one) made this year; and boy did this movie
make me happy. I'll admit, I haven't seen too many films by Guillermo del Toro
besides Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy, and Blade II, but his craft as a
visual storyteller really shines in this movie. It's big, loud,
extraordinary, and larger than life. It's really something we haven't
seen in a while in movies where its fantasy feels really euphoric and out of this world, when colossal
figures collide against each other, reinforced by powerful sounds,
blaring details of skin and machine, with computer-generated and special
effects, coming at you all at once, and in your face.
But what if you feel that all these visual features are just gimmicks set as a ploy to distract you from what really matters: the story? Like all movies, whether they're the best or the worst, Pacific Rim tells us a story. It's about a fantastical world (and very del Toro-ean world if you will) where man fights monsters with robots so they can survive, and live another day. But it provides casts of characters existing in a story-world laden with loss and destruction to reinforce their meaning to fight, and for the all the "gimmicky" special effects to actually have meaning. The story speaks and everything else is instrumental, but not without a lot of charm; it shares a lot of tropes that anime fans like myself found amused being translated in live-action, and in an American movie. You've got otaku scientists, a wonder-girl, the distant-but-honorable father-figure, creatures described by diction that's isn't ours, and an overall gigantic scope. But like all anime, it falls victim to excessive build-up and exposition; it's like a gigantic tour around the world envisioned by this director. Though I can promise that it will become satisfying when all that build-up explodes into a loud and visceral euphoric bliss, but you really have to like these kinds of things in order to enjoy it.
I really enjoyed it.