Pacific Rim Thread (2013)

[SuperTroll]

Giant Robot Movie is very easy to poke holes into. But a couple bits that stood out to me as especially flawed:

Spoiler

[list]
[]If two people are neurally linked, and one is forcibly and suddenly torn away from the other, wouldn’t the remaining person undergo some kind of neural shock? I’d think his nervous system would overload from the sudden impulse and shut down, or his and his partner’s thoughts would get all mixed up and he’d go through some kind of identity crisis. Instead, this guy (I don’t even remember his name) suffers from some regular PTSD that’s barely touched upon twice (“I have my brother’s memories”). After the test run incident, it’s never mentioned again. It would not only have given the story, but also the character, more depth by making him mentally fractured or unstable in some way, thus creating an individual struggle. Granted, the story was already overloaded with details that are barely developed, so there’s no room for examining this side of his character without changing the entire focus of the movie or turning it into a book or video game. But this detail nagged at me through the entire film. Which is funny, because Del Toro wants to make video games now.
[]What was the blue sludge? It’s mentioned in a news report like it was significant to the plot but is only mentioned that one time. Maybe it’s a nod to Hedorah. EDIT: A friend informed me that this is ammonia. Which still has no place in the film, but at least it’s explained.
[]I thought the wings adaptation was silly until I thought that maybe the aliens realized how important controlling the airways is on Earth. I still laughed a bit when he sprouted wings though.
[]In all their ten years of fighting Kaiju, not one nation had come up with a more efficient way to pilot Jaegers? You’d figure that some scientists would have come up with a way to support a single pilot (even if this would have upset the entire plot), or would have encountered other cases like Mako’s to prevent another incident like that test run from happening.
[*]What also bugged me was how the two scientists didn’t bother calling the HQ by cell phone when they magically discovered the aliens’ entire plan and were able to comprehend it in a matter of seconds, somehow. Perhaps neither of them had phones on them or they were fried in the EMP blast? Typical action movie convenient forgetfulness.

There’s so much more to pick on but doing so wouldn’t serve much purpose other than to reinforce that yes, this movie’s plot is shoddy, even if it’s about giant robots vs. giant monsters.
[/list]

For what the movie sets out to do, it does it well. Visually-gripping fight scenes of titanic proportions. It just needed one more to balance out the rushed action movie hoo-hah that bridged those conflicts, despite that cutting into tons of extra screen time and budget. I threw my hands up into the air and laughed when they pulled out the swords because not only was it ridiculous, why didn’t they bother before? Instead of revving up these massive plasma cannons that take longer to charge than a DBZ arc, why not just pull out the blades? Most action movies fall victim to plot convenience, and this was no different.

Bottom line: Needed more multimillion dollar brawls. If anything, the movie just made me want to watch Iron Giant again or play King of the Monsters.

The Piston Punch nod to Big-O was neat. I’ll admit I smiled even if it was obvious. Rei is the wrong character to model your female lead after, though after thinking about it for a bit, she’s not all that much like Rei beyond being reserved because their reasons for being that way differ. Del Toro also apparently has never watched EVA, which I find hard to believe.

Awesome abilities aren’t as awesome if they’re used too often. People in my theatre awed when they pulled the sword out the first time, when it seemed like the heroes were about to die. If they had the swords on the entire film it wouldn’t be as awesome, or hype when they did their thing to that thing.

Also, you’re taking this film way too serious, what were you expecting? This movie has just as much cheese, plot holes, and dumb plot elements as most 90’s/80’s high budget summer sci-fi films, even the best ones. That’s a part of its charm. The plot is immature, silly, and mostly there to get from one action scene to another but it gets the job done.

Why can’t more people get this point lol.

It isn’t a movie that is trying to"Nolan"it in any way shape or form. The effort here is in delivering a pure movie going experience which is just to have fun, be entertained and enjoy yourself.

I swear its like people these days want every movie to have a gritty, moody tone…is it wrong to just have fun yo.

[Wellman]

Giant Robot Movie is very easy to poke holes into. But a couple bits that stood out to me as especially flawed:

Spoiler

[list]
[]If two people are neurally linked, and one is forcibly and suddenly torn away from the other, wouldn’t the remaining person undergo some kind of neural shock? I’d think his nervous system would overload from the sudden impulse and shut down, or his and his partner’s thoughts would get all mixed up and he’d go through some kind of identity crisis. Instead, this guy (I don’t even remember his name) suffers from some regular PTSD that’s barely touched upon twice (“I have my brother’s memories”). After the test run incident, it’s never mentioned again. It would not only have given the story, but also the character, more depth by making him mentally fractured or unstable in some way, thus creating an individual struggle. Granted, the story was already overloaded with details that are barely developed, so there’s no room for examining this side of his character without changing the entire focus of the movie or turning it into a book or video game. But this detail nagged at me through the entire film. Which is funny, because Del Toro wants to make video games now.
[]What was the blue sludge? It’s mentioned in a news report like it was significant to the plot but is only mentioned that one time. Maybe it’s a nod to Hedorah. EDIT: A friend informed me that this is ammonia. Which still has no place in the film, but at least it’s explained.
[]I thought the wings adaptation was silly until I thought that maybe the aliens realized how important controlling the airways is on Earth. I still laughed a bit when he sprouted wings though.
[]In all their ten years of fighting Kaiju, not one nation had come up with a more efficient way to pilot Jaegers? You’d figure that some scientists would have come up with a way to support a single pilot (even if this would have upset the entire plot), or would have encountered other cases like Mako’s to prevent another incident like that test run from happening.
[*]What also bugged me was how the two scientists didn’t bother calling the HQ by cell phone when they magically discovered the aliens’ entire plan and were able to comprehend it in a matter of seconds, somehow. Perhaps neither of them had phones on them or they were fried in the EMP blast? Typical action movie convenient forgetfulness.

There’s so much more to pick on but doing so wouldn’t serve much purpose other than to reinforce that yes, this movie’s plot is shoddy, even if it’s about giant robots vs. giant monsters.
[/list]

For what the movie sets out to do, it does it well. Visually-gripping fight scenes of titanic proportions. It just needed one more to balance out the rushed action movie hoo-hah that bridged those conflicts, despite that cutting into tons of extra screen time and budget. I threw my hands up into the air and laughed when they pulled out the swords because not only was it ridiculous, why didn’t they bother before? Instead of revving up these massive plasma cannons that take longer to charge than a DBZ arc, why not just pull out the blades? Most action movies fall victim to plot convenience, and this was no different.

Bottom line: Needed more multimillion dollar brawls. If anything, the movie just made me want to watch Iron Giant again or play King of the Monsters.

The Piston Punch nod to Big-O was neat. I’ll admit I smiled even if it was obvious. Rei is the wrong character to model your female lead after, though after thinking about it for a bit, she’s not all that much like Rei beyond being reserved because their reasons for being that way differ. Del Toro also apparently has never watched EVA, which I find hard to believe.

Awesome abilities aren’t as awesome if they’re used too often. People in my theatre awed when they pulled the sword out the first time, when it seemed like the heroes were about to die. If they had the swords on the entire film it wouldn’t be as awesome, or hype when they did their thing to that thing.

Also, you’re taking this film way too serious, what were you expecting? This movie has just as much cheese, plot holes, and dumb plot elements as most 90’s/80’s high budget summer sci-fi films, even the best ones. That’s a part of its charm. The plot is immature, silly, and mostly there to get from one action scene to another but it gets the job done.

Why can’t more people get this point lol.

It isn’t a movie that is trying to"Nolan"it in any way shape or form. The effort here is in delivering a pure movie going experience which is just to have fun, be entertained and enjoy yourself.

I swear its like people these days want every movie to have a gritty, moody tone…is it wrong to just have fun yo.

Yeah, the movie isn’t trying to bog you down with too much drama it is trying to entertain you with some acts of heroism, the giant robot-monster action and a little bit of comedy.

Could the characters be more deeper or developed, sure but the direction they wanted this film to go is not too long and basically build a stage where the giant robots and monsters could tear each other apart. I honestly can’t imagine not getting a thrill from that but I grew up watching a bunch of old Godzilla films so… to each his own.

[NickRocks]

WELL THAT FUCKING OWNED

THE DUDE IS LIKE BROTHERRRRR AND THEN HES LIKE IMMA RETIRE BUT THEN HES NOT RETIRED THEN THERES THE MONSTER THEN KING KONG JUMPS OUT OF THE OCEAN AND HAS AN EMP BLAST LIKE WTF WHO DOES THAT THEN VOLTRON SHOWS UP AND RIPS HIS EMP OUT AND FIERCE PUNCHX4S HIM IN THE GUT THEN DEAD BODY VIPER BEAMS HIM THEN THE MONSTER WHO LOOKED LIKE HE WASNT SHIT IS LICKING THE DUDE FROM ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA THEN VOLTRON RIPS HIS FUCKING TONGUE OUT THEN THE MONSTER FLIES LIKE WTF THEN HES JUST LIKE IMMA CUT YOU IN HALF THEN HES LIKE ROCKET PUNCH THEN THEY FIGHT WITH A FUCKING SHIP

[True_Grave]

Awesome abilities aren’t as awesome if they’re used too often. People in my theatre awed when they pulled the sword out the first time, when it seemed like the heroes were about to die. If they had the swords on the entire film it wouldn’t be as awesome, or hype when they did their thing to that thing.

Also, you’re taking this film way too serious, what were you expecting? This movie has just as much cheese, plot holes, and dumb plot elements as most 90’s/80’s high budget summer sci-fi films, even the best ones. That’s a part of its charm. The plot is immature, silly, and mostly there to get from one action scene to another but it gets the job done.

When you think about it, it is kinda stupid that the others didn’t use such external weapons as much or have them when their primary mode of attack is melee. Weapons would spare the bots wear & tear in combat, and by the time they broke or were disarmed, enough damage was done to make it easier to pound the kaiju’s heads in after.

The russian mech should have had a giant axe or spear, the american bot should have been using that damn sword from the get-go, etc.

And no excuses should be made for the plot/story here. Defending the earth from giant alien monsters with giant robots, w/pilots who have grudges against the Kaiju from lost family members. Thats all the drama and character motivation you need.

[Pterodactyl]

lol @ the dude with a fuckin Scott Pilgrim avatar doggin on… anything.

Mine? This isn’t Scott Pilgrim. It looks nothing like Scott Pilgrim.

People were “doggin on” the movie on the last page, not sure why my post is any different. Bad plots are excusable in films like The Raid: Redemption or countless other martial arts movies, where the focus is on beautiful choreography. Pacific Rim grasped at plot by cramming so much stuff into it yet ended up being a generic action movie with breathtaking visuals. For the record, I had an enjoyable time watching the movie with friends. It’s good campy fun with a massive budget. I just wouldn’t see it again.

Unless you were referring to someone else’s critique, in which case my post is just me getting uppity over nothing.

EDIT: Oh, whoops, took me a second to realize who you were referring to. Never mind.

totally agree with this.

1. some old hot shot retires because his brother dies.
2. they want him back ,but he puts up a little resistance.
3. girl has a past.
4. black dude is the father figure.
5. asshole elitist who doesn’t want them on the team.

this was just a pretty over hyped movie ,but enjoyable with friends.

All of those go with the 80’s/90’s summer action movie theme this movie seems to have.

It’s all so cheesy and dumb.

I love it.

It’s awesome, I don’t see how anyone could think it’s a bad thing in this case.

Awesome abilities aren’t as awesome if they’re used too often. People in my theatre awed when they pulled the sword out the first time, when it seemed like the heroes were about to die. If they had the swords on the entire film it wouldn’t be as awesome, or hype when they did their thing to that thing.

Also, you’re taking this film way too serious, what were you expecting? This movie has just as much cheese, plot holes, and dumb plot elements as most 90’s/80’s high budget summer sci-fi films, even the best ones. That’s a part of its charm. The plot is immature, silly, and mostly there to get from one action scene to another but it gets the job done.

When you think about it, it is kinda stupid that the others didn’t use such external weapons as much or have them when their primary mode of attack is melee. Weapons would spare the bots wear & tear in combat, and by the time they broke or were disarmed, enough damage was done to make it easier to pound the kaiju’s heads in after.

The russian mech should have had a giant axe or spear, the american bot should have been using that damn sword from the get-go, etc.

And no excuses should be made for the plot/story here. Defending the earth from giant alien monsters with giant robots, w/pilots who have grudges against the Kaiju from lost family members. Thats all the drama and character motivation you need.

I don’t get what you don’t understand,

It’s stupid.

It’s awesome.

It doesn’t make a lot of sense.

It doesn’t need to, why do people want so much out of this simple, simple movie?

And the other mechs were using their special stuff in combat.

Russian mech was using electric piston punches and the Chinese mech was using that spinny saw blade martial arts stance.

[white_shadow]

**"THIS IS FOR MY FAMILY!

TAKE THIS! MY LOVE! MY ANGER! AND ALL OF MY SORROW!!!"**

This was by far my favorite movie this year. It filled all the gaps Man of Steel needed to fill:

-Great pacing.

-A true sense of danger.

-Characters who you felt something for.

-Excellent action.

-Moral sense of responsibility that wasn’t too preachy or overbearing.

From the get-go the movie sets the tone with the quick prologue and montage, this saves a good 60 minutes normally wasted in screentime to explain the plot. That whole montage effect was very good later on at establishing the secondary characters motives and fleshing them out, without a long backstory that would’ve taken time from the central plot.

The relationships with the characters felt believable and made you care about them. Even Asshole Aussie with his generic douchebaggery was given more dimension when you see how nuanced and deep his bond with his father was. Raleigh and Nancy. Idris and Mako. Idris and Raleigh. Mako and Raleigh. Aussie Pops and Son. Charlie and Brit Scientist. All those relationships felt real, even if the attraction between Raleigh and Mako seemed a bit contrived, it held up to the plot well.

Unlike Superman, the sense of urgency and global scope felt real. The Kaiju were a terrifying menace in that they were largely unknown and very destructive. The Jaegers were a decent tool against them, but you actually felt that it was an very uphill battle if the pilots weren’t as skilled as they were. The action was top notch and the fight scenes had a lot of creativity and thrilling moments thrown in. I was really great.

The only 2 things that I didn’t like was the corny boy/girl childishness in the first act between Mako and Raleigh, which thankfully matured into a real bond that didn’t need an onscreen kiss. The second issue was that I felt that Raleigh needed to die. Him surviving so conveniently cheapened the whole message of duty and sacrifice in the face of truly dangerous odds. But it wasn’t the worse thing in the world, I know they did it for the potential sequel value.

Guillermo Del Toro has always been a good director to me, but this movie has put him at the forefront of my favorite directors list. His creativity and ability to write, design, and direct is quite astounding. Definitely one talented dude.

Fishjie was probably fuming at the WM/AF romance though. lol

[NickRocks]

Oh yeah i forgot about the UNDERWATER NUKE PART BLOWING ALL THE WATER AWAY THAT SHIT WAS SICK

AND THE PART WHEN THE MONSTER BLOWS THROUGH THE WALL LIKE PAPER AND ALL THE WORKERS GO WELP WTF ARE WE WORKING ON THIS SHIT FOR

[KimuraLOX]

When the first nuke went off underwater and you see all the dead fishes before it came rushing back in. BRILLIANT. An amazing display of power, imo.

[white_shadow]

When the first nuke went off underwater and you see all the dead fishes before it came rushing back in. BRILLIANT. An amazing display of power, imo.

Also a good display of why using a bunch of nukes to destroy every Kaiju wouldn’t have been a good idea for mankind’s survival.

[Don_Barracuda]

Remind me why the guy had to die, when they showed they have perfectly good escape pods?

[Wellman]

Remind me why the guy had to die, when they showed they have perfectly good escape pods?

The same reason why they cut the Mexico Jaeger they had planned, time/budget. Sure dude could have survived, hell I wish he did as I found him entertaining, but they probably thought it was better to have two people do the sacrifice then just one.

Edit:

Spoiler

And I guess if they just had Idris Elba do the suicide detonation as cool as it would be, they would have feared people asking why the black guy dies while white boy survived. Although seeing Idris solo pilot that Australian Jaeger would have been dope, I guess that, along with coming up with an excuse how the pod escapes to Kaiju and a underwater explosion, just would have added to the expenses of the movie instead of a simple big explosion and killing a character who was only nice to Mako once and his dog.

[white_shadow]

Remind me why the guy had to die, when they showed they have perfectly good escape pods?

The same reason why they cut the Mexico Jaeger they had planned, time/budget. Sure dude could have survived, hell I wish he did as I found him entertaining, but they probably thought it was better to have two people do the sacrifice then just one.

Edit:

Spoiler

And I guess if they just had Idris Elba do the suicide detonation as cool as it would be, they would have feared people asking why the black guy dies while white boy survived. Although seeing Idris solo pilot that Australian Jaeger would have been dope, I guess that, along with coming up with an excuse how the pod escapes to Kaiju and a underwater explosion, just would have added to the expenses of the movie instead of a simple big explosion and killing a character who was only nice to Mako once and his dog.

Judging by the sheer size of the explosion and the very small timeframe in which they could deploy the emergency vessel (the Kaiju were swimming headlong towards the Jaeger by the time the pilots decided on a quick plan) the Aussie dude would’ve died anyway. Even if he miraculously survived the detonation, he’d most likely get radiation poisoning and died a slow, painful death.

The only reason why Raleigh survived his ordeal was due to the warp gate closing off when the mech exploded.

[Don_Barracuda]

I liked him too, I was hoping for a surprise twist that he was alive.

You’d think after they realize the Jaegers were radioactive, life pods would be made radiation proof too.

I’m also assuming Jaeger pilots don’t have to worry about decompression…

[True_Grave]

I don’t get what you don’t understand,

It’s stupid.

It’s awesome.

It doesn’t make a lot of sense.

It doesn’t need to, why do people want so much out of this simple, simple movie?

And the other mechs were using their special stuff in combat.

Russian mech was using electric piston punches and the Chinese mech was using that spinny saw blade martial arts stance.

Umm i was actually defending the story there, genius.

And with the exception of the chinese mech, they really didn’t. The Austrailian & american bots barely used their swords at all. And the russian mech could have used an extra something besides trying to bludgeon them to death.

It did drop a big elbow on one of the creatures, which looked cool, but had little effect. Then after…

Remind me why the guy had to die, when they showed they have perfectly good escape pods?

Agreed x10! The head guy had balls of steel so he could have probably piloted the mech by himself for five minutes. Was willing to sacrifice himself anyway.

R.I.P Iceman

~Never forget

http://www.musicskins.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/small_image/290x/17f82f742ffe127f42dca9de82fb58b1/m/s/ms-topg1-artwork-thumbnail.jpg

[white_shadow]

I liked him too, I was hoping for a surprise twist that he was alive.

You’d think after they realize the Jaegers were radioactive, life pods would be made radiation proof too.

I’m also assuming Jaeger pilots don’t have to worry about decompression…

I thought about the decompression as well, and the how Mako was able to swim so well in the armor. (We can just say it’s futuristic lightweight polymer armor).

[NickRocks]

What good would those escape pods have been in the air-you know what, NO. NO NO NO

I REFUSE TO TALK ABOUT LOGISTICS IN THIS MOVIE. ITD BE LIKE ASKING HOW THE CARS FLIPPED IN SPEED RACER (which is the last movie I loved as much as I love PacRim). THERE’S LITERALLY NOTHING I WOULD CHANGE ABOUT THIS MOVIE. EXCEPT FOR WHEN THE BABY MAKO CRIED DAT WAS SO SAD ;[

[Don_Barracuda]

GO HOME NICKROCKS, YOU’RE DRUNK!

Spoiler

Baby Mako performed the best acting in the whole film :*(

[NickRocks]

She made me want to leap into the screen and fight the kaiju barehanded

[makmak]

This has been going around here:

[NickRocks]

Cool but id rather have one that says FOR MY FAMILY and a picture of gipsy danger with the sword