3 stars (out of 4)

Released 2013

It’s the future and Earth has been under attack by mysterious giant monsters for years. Humanity builds walls to keep the monsters out, but walls can be breached. Our main character and his Asian female sidekick are soldiers who have lost their families. They continue to fight even though there is little hope for survival and their colleagues are falling in battle. Could be Attack on Titan, but it’s not; it’s PACIFIC RIM!

The creatures in this film, called Kaiju, emerge from a dimensional rift in the ocean. To counter the threat, humans built giant robots, called Jaegers, which must be operated by 2 pilots synchronized in a neural bridge. However, the program is failing, and the few remaining Jaegers have a chance to mount one last stand. Raleigh, the hero, is one of the pilots.

As someone who is admittedly rather mecha-challenged, that is, I’m not usually good at telling one machine from another and at following mecha fights, I didn’t have too much trouble with the action scenes in this movie. Generally, they were clearly presented; it was perhaps actually easier to distinguish the robots than the generically good-looking young actors in the cast. There were the occasional scenes, however, that were dark enough that it took me a moment to determine if I was looking at a Jaeger or a Kaiju.

Raleigh’s eventual partner, Mako, didn’t come off quite as tough as I’d hoped she would have. It seemed like Raleigh was always protecting her instead of the other way around. At the same time, I’m grateful she was no damsel in distress either. And some of her “weakness” may have made her a more sympathetic character for the audience to relate to. Also, how cute was the younger version of Mako?

I liked that there was plenty of human action and character development too, away from the robots. The movie was fun and frequently thrilling to watch. And there’s even a mild environmental message to boot.