*Originally written January 10th, 2019*
I'd been meaning to revisit Pacific Rim for a while now, after the absolute train-wreck that is Pacific Rim: Uprising, I stupidly thought that "Maybe the original Pacific Rim is just a piece of shit too". Boy, how wrong I was, it's far from perfect, but Guillermo Del Toro's love letter to monster cinema is a big, dumb and fun piece of action.
I don't enjoy it as much as most people, but there is so much to enjoy here. Del Toro delivers such wonderful and vibrant set-pieces (This is an absolute treat to watch on 4K, those neon colours really pop with HDR). It has a beautiful and cinematic look that is lost in the televisual sequel. There's such care and fluidity to make every single action scene memorable and exciting, it was such a lovely refresher on how great summer blockbusters can be both dumb, but extremely fun which seems rare these days and with 2018 just gone, it was a pretty painful year for blockbuster films aside from a select few.
The Jaiger and monster designs are all awesome and have their own unique feel. The neon blue blood of the creatures are a sight to behold, making the gore more entertaining and gorgeous to look at. I hate to bring up the sequel again, but the size and weight of these giant robots are completely lost there, in the original they feel huge and have weight to them and they are goddamn majestic to look at.
I just wish the script and story were as strong as the visuals and action. Charlie Hunnam is pretty bland as the lead (like he usually is), but he's serviceable for the most part and manages to carry the film. The side characters bring far more interest and charisma. Ron Perlman is just a delight in his short role and Charlie Day is pretty much playing Charlie Kelly from It's Always Sunny, but it's welcome.
Idris Elba surprisingly steals the show here as the charismatic leader of the Jaiger pilots and his "Cancelling the apocalypse" speech is actually pretty awesome and I forgot how memorable it was. I'd honestly have preferred it if Elba had taken the lead role over Hunham, he certainly has far more charisma. Not as much as Jon Hamm, but damn he has charisma.
I'm definitely glad I revisited Pacific Rim despite it's flaws and got see see it in glorious 4K. I just wish they'd either waited for Del Toro to finish Shape of Water so he could have returned to direct 2, or just not made it at all. Either way, this still holds up as wonderfully entertaining and beautiful shot monster vs robot action. God bless cinema.
8/10 Dans
Pacific Rim is out now on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
Watch the trailer below:
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