Throwback Thursday Review: 'Pacific Rim'

I'm reviewing Pacific Rim to tie in with the release of its sequel, Pacific Rim: Uprising. Since March is almost over, I'm going to ahead and fill you in on the reviews you can expect to see through April, but I've made some changes to the previously outlined schedule because my finals are the same week that Avengers: Infinity War will be released. In order to get that review out as soon as possible for my readers, I'm easing my schedule by not reviewing anything else that week. Now that that's all cleared up, reviews you'll likely see through April include Throwback Thursday Reviews of Jurassic Park, Ocean's Eleven (2001), and The Avengers, a Triple-R for Avengers: Age of Ultron, and new reviews of Pacific Rim: Uprising, Ready Player One, Isle of Dogs, A Quiet Place, Rampage, and Avengers: Infinity War. 

'Pacific Rim' Review

Pacific Rim thrusts audiences into a far-flung future where humanity has been besieged by monstrous sea creatures called Kaiju. As the beasts emerged from a dimensional rift in the Pacific Ocean, mankind developed massive robot fighting machines to combat the Kaiju. These mechs, dubbed Jaegers, were designed to be piloted by two humans locked together in a neural bridge. However, even with weaponized robots at their disposal, humanity's efforts to extinguish the Kaiju three has proved futile. As the Kaiju approach for their final strike, a former pilot and untrained trainee pair up to pilot an old, obsolete Jaeger in a last ditch effort to save the world from an impending apocalypse.

Pacific Rim is helmed by the recent Academy Award winning director Guillermo del Toro with a screenplay co-written by del Toro and Travis Beacham. When perusing through del Toro's filmography, you'll quickly take notice that he has a knack for spearheading creature-features so it only makes sense that he would have felt drawn to a blockbuster of this nature. It's about robots fighting sea creatures after all... Which is precisely why he was the perfect fit for the project. 

Del Toro's passion seeps through every frame thanks to the exceptional work of cinematographer Guillermo Navarro and the various visual effects artists at del Toro's disposal. They each ensure the neon-infused atmosphere envisioned by del Toro was executed to the fullest. When researching the film to see if it was nominated for any Oscars, I was shocked to learn it wasn't nominated for Best Visual Effects in 2013 because I was sure it would have been, and it certainly should have been. Beyond its impressive visuals, Pacific Rim also features an epic score composed by Ramin Djawadi and some solid performances. However, the film falls a little short in the story department. 

Despite a clear effort to establish the core characters as empathetic individuals, they weren't fully fleshed out enough for me to invest myself completely in their struggle. Sure, I want humanity to emerge triumphant... But not for anything the characters did to draw my interest. Mainly because I too am human. Most of the characters are little more than two-dimensional avatars when all is said-and-done because so many of them lack a personality. With all that being said, it's difficult to fault del Toro considering he's well aware that this is a "B" monster movie all about sheer spectacle. 

For every criticism I could conjure for Pacific Rim, I'm able to come up with at least twenty more reasons why Pacific Rim is awesome as an action-oriented blockbuster. The concept behind it all is incredibly interesting, the Kaiju and Jaeger designs are unique, and the fight sequences are incredible. It's just the characters and story that are lacking. 

Leading the rock 'em sock 'em ensemble are Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi, who each imbue their characters with the essential attributes. Hunnam portrays Raleigh as a loose cannon while Kikuchi's Mako is a troubled trainee. Even though they fit their respective roles well, I've never quite bought their romantic connection as there's not much chemistry between the two of them. The romance then feels forced into the narrative for the sake of including one.

Elsewhere, Idris Elba's magnetic screen presence as Marshal Stacker Pentecost positions him to be a cut above most movie military officials, but his stance as the most dynamic character only aids him in being the standout scene stealer.

Meanwhile, Charlie Day and Burn Gorman play a pair of eccentric geniuses whose silly side quest seems to be a contrived scheme to obtain pertinent information. Other cast members deserving of a shout out include Ron Perlman, Max Martini, and Robert Kazinski who all manage to make a unique impact with varying screen time. 

Despite adhering to the nuts-and-bolts of a traditional "B" monster movie, Pacific Rim remains an exciting popcorn movie that will scratch your itch to watch gigantic Jaegers punch it out with enormous Kaiju. While it underwhelms on a storytelling level, the interested audience members probably weren't even asking for that to begin with. 

Film Assessment: B

Retrospective Review: 'Alien: Resurrection'

My trek through the Alien Anthology nears its end with my Retrospective Review of Alien: Resurrection. My remaining Alien reviews for the week include a Throwback Thursday Review of Prometheus and a review of Alien: Covenant which should be uploaded in the next couple days.

'Alien: Resurrection' Review

Alien: Resurrection takes place 200 years after Ellen Ripley sacrificed herself to prevent another alien outbreak. Scientists at space station Auriga have successfully created a clone of Ripley along with the alien queen embryo inside her, with plans to breed and militarize the Xenomorph spawn. The Betty, a freighter hauling mercenaries and unconscious human cargo, arrives at the installation and things go awry as the aliens escape, prompting yet another extraterrestrial engagement.

Alien: Resurrection was another desperate attempt to prolong the Alien franchise after Alien 3 supposedly wrapped things up. Jean-Pierre Jeunet took over the helm as director while Joss Whedon penned the screenplay (it's crazy to imagine that this is where the writer-director of The Avengers was just beginning). From those two differing creative voices, it's not too surprising that Resurrection wound up tonally conflicted. Jeunet wanted to take things seriously like Alien, while Whedon was going after a more lighthearted affair akin to Aliens.

Those two clashing perspectives doomed the project from the start because the kindest thing I can say about Resurrection is also probably the worst. Resurrection is one of those middling movies that's so bad that it's good. You'll find it difficult to keep a straight face amidst the most outrageous, absolutely absurd situations occurring onscreen.

Whedon had actually originally written the script to be quite different with a cloned teenage Newt (the young girl from Aliens) as the lead but somehow Sigourney Weaver was brought back around and she was forced into the narrative. On that note, I find the decision to clone Ripley for the purposes of breeding an alien army to be nearly as idiotic as the multiple attempts to revive dinosaurs in the Jurassic Park flicks. If you're an intellectual aware that there have been at least three incidents involving Xenomorphs that left practically no survivors, why in the world would you try to make more of them? I understand the characters' greed outweighed their logic but it's really just a cheap ploy to bring back another alien, otherwise these movies couldn't happen (and in this case it probably shouldn't have). And it didn't help the film that the French director didn't speak a lick of English, I can imagine how much of a logistics nightmare this project must have been based on that fact alone. You can tell that Jeunet had a tough time directing and the creative clash behind the scenes because everything's so tonally inconsistent.

The talented ensemble don't ooze an ounce of charisma and are really just playing hollow caricatures rather than fleshed out characters. Whedon's dialogue would probably sound better if it were coming from more charismatic actor but the straight-panned dialogue delivery slaughters the intent.

Even Sigourney Weaver is bad in this movie, playing an over-the-top sex-driven freak rather than the badass heroine we've come to love. Weaver's Ripley 8 is only a shadow of her former self and I unfortunately could not bring myself to care about her character in the slightest. The basketball scene's more than enough to drive home my point (if you've watched Resurrection, you'll know what I mean). Winona Ryder goes a bit too far in the robotic direction as the android engineer Call, resulting in one of her worst performances I've ever seen. Dominique Pinon, Ron Perlman, Gary Dourdan, Michael Wincott, and Kim Flowers fill out the remains Betty crew members as the disabled doofus Dom Vriess, ill-tempered Ron Johner, cold blooded Gary Christie, cocky captain Frank Elgyn, and the sexy Sabra Hillard. Each actor strings out a one-note performance with their hollow vessels, failing to add an ounce of interest. 

While I've brought up plenty of negatives, I actually found a COUPLE improvements from Alien 3. For starters, the Xenomorphs actually looked menacing as they should when they appeared. Although they pop up far too often to be an effective tool, it's much better than the effects atrocity in Alien 3. The production design matched the Alien aesthetic and let itself well to everything occurring onscreen. There's also an underwater sequence that was fairly delightful and thrilling that I quite enjoyed.

Other than those few worthwhile elements, there's not really any other positive things I can say. The score composed by John Frizzell honors his namesake as a frantic, frizzled mess of music but doesn't mesh well with ongoing events and the monstrosity that is "The Newborn" is one of the worst looking creatures I think I've ever laid eyes upon. I have no idea why that was ever perceived to be frightening by a studio exec, especially considering that they had one of the most horrifying cinematic creatures at their disposal. Alien: Resurrection aimed to restore the franchise, but wound up driving the Alien Anthology further into its grave.

Film Assessment: F