Feature | Lights, Camera, Action! – Pacific Rim

Pacific Rim (UK Rating: 12A)

Okay, so that's the scenario: giant monsters against giant robots, or Transformers versus Godzilla. Jolly good. Bring it on!

Now, these here Jaegers are simultaneously controlled by two pilots whose minds are synched by a neural bridge called The Drift. Don't ask why - they just are. Wouldn't it just be much easier if one person piloted the damned thing? Yes, but then this particular little story wouldn't be possible...

The movie stars Charlie Hunnam getting his first real taste of film stardom after years of TV success, beginning many years ago with Queer As Folk. Hunnam looks very well on it, as fit as the proverbial fiddle. His smile is as easy as any man's should be in his happy position. Well done, Charlie! No, seriously well done, Charlie! Hunnam wisely plays to his strengths: charm, personality, great physique. He's a convincing action hero and has a good, easy grasp of the dialogue.

In a pre-credits prologue, Hunnam loses his brother while piloting a Jaeger against a Kaiju, who proves too much for them, just escaping with his own life. He's a washed-up man, just doing bits and pieces of freelance tough-guy work on the huge wall that tries to keep out the Kaiju.

Therefore, five years later, on the verge of defeat against the relentless onslaught of the Kaiju, the forces defending mankind, headed by Idris Elba, are forced to recruit Hunnam and reluctantly team him with an untested female rookie (Rinko Kikuchi) to drive a seemingly obsolete Jaeger. They are the only hope, Obi Wan, against the mounting apocalypse. Can they save the day and can they survive till the end of the movie? Big hint: Pacific Rim 2 is already in development…

The best things about the movie are 1.) Hunnam, Kikuchi and Elba - all class actors working at a high level; 2.) The astounding visual effects by John Knoll and James E. Price and animation by Hal Hickel; 3.) The beautiful cinematography work of Guillermo Navarro; plus 4.) The stylish production designs by Andrew Neskoromny and Carol Spier.

To be honest, though, Travis Beacham's story and screenplay, co-authored with Señor del Toro, is a bit clunky and cheesy, staying with its initial set-up too long, not progressing far enough or quickly enough out of the starting gate, and just doing the same things, then more of the same throughout the two-hour running time as Jaegers keep trying to take down Kaiju. Then it is a case of just banging away with the giant monsters against giant robots idea - good though that is - but it feels much more like a video game than a film a lot of the time. The characters are interesting enough, or at least could be if they were much better developed, so they end up just being stock caricatures: tough. but good-hearted general; plucky, but slightly hero; plucky, but slightly heroine; bad boy co-fighter with a heart of gold; quirky, but brainy boffins, and so on, repeat ad nauseum.

Yes, there is plenty of action to please the fans, even if it's samey, but there's not enough fun, especially if not a fan of the erratic comedy relief - there are quite irritating turns by two actors playing boffins, when they would be pushing their luck with even one. Ron Perlman puts in more or less a guest appearance as the quirky rebel Hannibal Chau: love him as most do, but it's all a bit slack. Perhaps it's meant to be laid-back and cool, but it misses the mark. It's what he's given to do, so it's not Perlman's fault.

The film tries to set up an air of mystery around the monsters, but this just means that the viewer never really gets to know much about why the Kaiju are attacking or really care that much. Thanks to the three star actors, though, it is possible to care a bit about why they are doing what they are doing, as well as who Elba is to Kikuchi, can Hunnam get over the death of his brother, turn defeat into victory…that kind of thing.

[score=5]With a better script than Beacham (Clash of the Titans) can come up with, it would be a much better film. Much more story development and better, wisecracking dialogue would go a long way to making this the movie many hoped it would be. Unfortunately, Ramin Djawadi's score should have been dumped as it lacks subtlety and variation. If Pacific Rim is a hit - and it surely will be - the studio will go ahead with the sequel. Maybe they can get it right next time, however! Their mantra should be: more fun, more story…in fact, maybe just 'more' in general.