Pacific Rim

[slackur]

As a VERY busy house-dad of three precocious kids, with many ministries, projects, and band gigs eating up each day, I don't get to see many movies.  When my birthday rolled around, I wanted to make a point to take my beloved out and see something for fun.  This is what I picked:

[img width=700 height=979]http://www.geek-art.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Matt-Ferguson-Pacific-Rim.jpg[/img]

I started by reading this, which I HIGHLY recommend picking up if you want to see the film:

[img width=610 height=918]http://oyster.ignimgs.com/wordpress/stg.ign.com/2013/03/Pacific-Rim-Year-Zero-610x918.jpg[/img]
 
My beloved and I are big fans of Del Toro, sci-fi, and big mech battles, so it just seemed a natural fit. 

[img width=700 height=393]http://wall-height.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Pacific-Rim-Background1.jpg[/img]
(my favorite promo image for the film)

So how was it?

Completely predictable.  Plot holes bigger than the Kaiju (giant monsters.)  Silly, over-the-top everything.  Much, much nonsense throughout.

I had so, so, so much fun.

From start to finish, I enjoyed it.  This is a movie so completely comfortable with itself and what it is doing, I was smiling the whole time, from one bizarre moment to the next. 

Its not a movie for everyone.  If you see the trailer and are not interested, I really don't think its a movie for you.




But wow, was it a movie made for folks like me.

[The Metamorphosing Leon]

I really like that first poster.

Don't think I'd care much for the movie, but then again, if it's comfortable with itself as a silly monster vs. robot movie I'd probably be ok with it. It's when these kinds of movies start to take themselves too seriously (like ALL the Marvel flicks) that I get tired of them.

[bombatomba]

Looks like a lot of big, stupid fun.  I'm down with that.  This movie looks friggin' great.  What I'm not looking forward to is the "wanna-be" aftershock this movie will cause.

[nupoile]

I'm going to try and see it this weekend....just so you have someone to talk to about it 

[slackur]

I really like that first poster.

Don't think I'd care much for the movie, but then again, if it's comfortable with itself as a silly monster vs. robot movie I'd probably be ok with it. It's when these kinds of movies start to take themselves too seriously (like ALL the Marvel flicks) that I get tired of them.

Yeah, I came across that first image and just had to use it somewhere.

It's because the movie felt self-aware without turning and winking at the camera, that made it so fun.  As soon as you think it's getting too heavy, some purposefully outlandish human character pops up that practically upstages the monsters in terms of silliness.  As I mentioned, if you can watch the trailer and think, 'man, if they do that right, it'll be a lot of fun!' then you'd probably get a kick out of it.  If the trailer does absolutely nothing to interest you, it's not likely one you'd enjoy.

Looks like a lot of big, stupid fun.  I'm down with that.  This movie looks friggin' great.  What I'm not looking forward to is the "wanna-be" aftershock this movie will cause.

Considering how poorly it is doing at the box-office, I'd be surprised if there are too many knock-offs anytime soon.

I'm going to try and see it this weekend....just so you have someone to talk to about it 

[nupoile]

The Wife and I just got back from seeing it.

I think I was grinning the whole time.

Pretty much everything slackur said about it is accurate, it's just a big, fun movie. It's not fun in a dumb sort of way, it's not funny like Men in Black or the like, it's just a fun movie. The whole thing is exciting to look at. Lots of good colors and set design. Both the practical and CG sets were really good for this movie. It doesn't get sidetracked trying to be serious, because it knows the whole point is to have giant robots beating up other giants. It isn't just a long episode of Power Rangers either.....you know, I shouldn't have to explain this, if you like having fun and don't think every movie has to be The Godfather, go watch this movie!


My only real complaint is, all the screaming. The monsters are screaming all the time, there are people and kids screaming. It's just not an audio aesthetic I cared for.

slackur, do you have any more thoughts? Do we even need to stay away from spoilers?

Oh yeah, and we were lucky enough to see the movie with a large group of mentally handicapped people in the theater. I'm being serious when I say "lucky." They really got into the movie, and in a very quiet way, you could hear them getting excited, happy and sad. I think I even heard someone weeping at an emotional point. It was great.

[The Metamorphosing Leon]

The Wife and I just got back from seeing it.

I think I was grinning the whole time.

Pretty much everything slackur said about it is accurate, it's just a big, fun movie. It's not fun in a dumb sort of way, it's not funny like Men in Black or the like, it's just a fun movie. The whole thing is exciting to look at. Lots of good colors and set design. Both the practical and CG sets were really good for this movie. It doesn't get sidetracked trying to be serious, because it knows the whole point is to have giant robots beating up other giants. It isn't just a long episode of Power Rangers either.....you know, I shouldn't have to explain this, if you like having fun and don't think every movie has to be The Godfather, go watch this movie!


My only real complaint is, all the screaming. The monsters are screaming all the time, there are people and kids screaming. It's just not an audio aesthetic I cared for.

slackur, do you have any more thoughts? Do we even need to stay away from spoilers?

Oh yeah, and we were lucky enough to see the movie with a large group of mentally handicapped people in the theater. I'm being serious when I say "lucky." They really got into the movie, and in a very quiet way, you could hear them getting excited, happy and sad. I think I even heard someone weeping at an emotional point. It was great.

Is amazing how the audience can affect a film. I saw Gran Torino with a theater full of young kids and we were roaring with laughter the whole time.

Saw it a week later with a bunch of adults and it was dull as spit.

[slackur]

The Wife and I just got back from seeing it.

I think I was grinning the whole time.

Pretty much everything slackur said about it is accurate, it's just a big, fun movie. It's not fun in a dumb sort of way, it's not funny like Men in Black or the like, it's just a fun movie. The whole thing is exciting to look at. Lots of good colors and set design. Both the practical and CG sets were really good for this movie. It doesn't get sidetracked trying to be serious, because it knows the whole point is to have giant robots beating up other giants. It isn't just a long episode of Power Rangers either.....you know, I shouldn't have to explain this, if you like having fun and don't think every movie has to be The Godfather, go watch this movie!


My only real complaint is, all the screaming. The monsters are screaming all the time, there are people and kids screaming. It's just not an audio aesthetic I cared for.

slackur, do you have any more thoughts? Do we even need to stay away from spoilers?

I usually try to avoid reading/giving spoilers myself, just because I don't like how pre-loading my mind's eye with imagery makes me expectantly look for it in the final product, which distracts me from the actual imagery the media is creating.  Personal preference.

Although I will reiterate my enjoyment of the prequel graphic novel; it was well written and really set the mood for the film, as well as give excellent backstory.

Also, glad you enjoyed!!

[Dergatron9000]

When I saw the trailer for the movie all I could think was "evangelion ripoff" but I love del toro and had a few hours to kill in singapore with my gf so we went to see it in imax 3D and was really impressed. It is a very entertaining movie and the 3D effects were really good in the first half. Charlie days' antics weRe icing on the cake