12
FILM
Issue 53 / 2013
www.guestlist.net
Pacific Rim
Even the most ardent supporters of Zack Snyder's 'Man of
Steel' expressed disappointment at its CGI-heavy finale, so
can 'Pacific Rim' fare any better?
August 12th
You'll find no spoilers here, but when the
latest Superman movie 'Man Of Steel'
came out a few months back, the general
consensus was that while everything
leading up to the release had been hugely
exciting, in the end the film just ended up
being a soulless piece of destruction porn.
Fortunately however, 'Pacific Rim' arrives
a little quieter but exclipses 'Man Of Steel'
in pretty much every single way.
With director Guillermo del Toro at the
helm, the film sponges off his previous
success with the twisted fairytale Pan's
Labyrinth and Hellboy, del Toro has a
talented foundation to build this film upon.
With this attitude in mind, 'Pacific Rim'
is an absolute blast. The plot may be as
ridiculous as they come; earthlings thwart
alien attackers by piloting giant robots, but
del Toro sells it to hell and back through
some brilliant visuals and an indomitable
commitment to the material.
His eye for detail is as sharp as ever
with the bodysuits the soldiers don in
order to control their avatar are almost as
fascinating to behold as the metallic beasts
themselves. The aliens, meanwhile, are
from the Cloverfield School of Creature
Design, but have a stockier, more wrestleready build to show-off.
There's a vague stab at sentimentality with
the proposition that the best fighters form
a bond with their robot, but that's about
as deep as the script gets. Headliners
Idris Elba and Charlie Hunnam give game
performances, but with effects like this,
plot and character development can afford
to take a backseat. This is a big, bold sci-fi
spectacle that wears its desire to entertain
on its shiny robotic sleeve.