If we Americans enjoy anything at the summer box office, it’s explosions and big robots. Thankfully, “Pacific Rim” the movie from director Guillermo del Toro promises to do exactly that. Set to come out on July 12th, the film features a plot that mixes classic sci-fi with stunning modern CGI.
The Skinny on Pacific Rim
Guillermo del Toro is probably best known for his 2006 release “Pan’s Labyrinth” – his latest project seems to share few similarities with this work, with the exception of a comfortable reliance on computer-rendered scenes. The plot of Pacific Rim involves violent conflict, but the conflict isn’t between humans. Instead, it’s between psychics and kaiju. What are Kaiju? Don’t worry, we’ll explain.
In Japanese cinema, kaiju are a form of supernatural beast somewhat akin to Godzilla. Simple, right? In Pacific Rim, a shift in the Earth’s tectonic plates opens up a portal connecting to another dimension. From this dimension and through this portal, kaiju emerge, threatening life as we know it. Luckily, the army has a solution, which is to build 25-story tall robots to fight the kaiju. The robots are controlled by a pair of psychics whose minds are linked. Oh yeah, and explosions and fight scenes. Plenty of those things.
Del Toro has expressed that this is a movie made for all ages but specifically aimed at a younger generation – kids in their early teens or younger. If you come to the theater for the explosions and robots, you’ll probably have fun. But if you expect a great deal of character development and restraint, you may want to choose a different flick.