PACIFIC RIM Review: 5 Things Wrong in a Film That Had So Much PotentialBut Failed to Impress

Damn you Pacific Rim. You had so much potential to the point that this was The Daily SuperHero's most highly anticipated summer movie simply because it was one of the few new intellectual properties and not a sequel or reboot.

Was the robot versus monster fights fun? Heck yeah they were! Were there enough of them? There never are.

Pacific Rim's computer generated effects were beautiful but where the movie was good with great fight scenes and effects, it failed miserably with actor performances and plot issues. This review is not so much a review as much as it will point out several of the issues with Pacific Rim.

Here's your SPOILER ALERT for after the below image. And these are detailed spoilers points too.

You've been warned...

Actors, and the Script, Failed in Conveying Emotion

This is a movie about giant, skyscraper-sized mechs (Jeagers) fighting monsters and shouldn't have been about much anything else. But there was some emotion and this actually makes sense seeing as how the human race is facing extinction at the hands of invading, alien monsters. Maybe the emotion of the film would have been better if the actors chosen to be in the movie could reflect some kind of emotion better. Plus, the emotion in the script seemed forced. Maybe the emotional aspect was added/edited in the 11th hour of the production and while it was filming. It was a disaster from the forced feel of it to the lack of any actor showing emotion and most looked emotionless while trying to show emotion.

When Your Jeager Has Swords, You Use Them... All the F'ing Time!

At one point the rebuilt Jeager, Gypsy Danger, is fighting off two Kaiju monsters. After defeating one the other monster gets the upper hand and spreads its wings to carry the Jeager into the sky. Suddenly, and most definitely stupidly, the one pilot remembers (after the fight is nearly over) the Gypsy Danger has swords and easily slices the flying monster in half.

Um... you should be using swords all the time if you can easily cut through monsters. Duh.

Sorry Charlie Day, But Your Character Was Weak and Not Funny

This is nothing against Day since his performance was admirable—he tried his best at being the silly, comedy character in the movie—but his character was horribly written. When he shares memories with part of a Kaiju brain, he then needs to find a more complete monster brain to learn more and how to beat them. Before he finds another brain, a Kaiju somehow finds his character underground and in hiding and gives him a "lick," or something weird that is not really explained, then the monster turns away. Did this happen because he shared memories with another Kaiju and he is now friends with the monsters? Not explained, therefore it was pointless and just awkward.

Then, this same monster—once defeated—is being harvested for its organs and bones and is actually pregnant. After birthing a baby monster, the baby dies and Day's character shares memories with the baby. He learns all the monster race's secrets and how the humans can finally beat them. He learns all of this from a baby that was just born? C'mon now... dumb.

So Let's Build a Giant Wall Even Though Monsters Can Tear Apart Giant Robots

At one point in the film, the human race thinks it's a good idea to start building giant walls on the coasts to stop the monsters. They do this even though they know these monsters can rip apart the Jeager robots. Good thing a Kaiju is then shown destroying one of the walls like it is butter. More dumb.

The Kaiju Were Actually the Dinosaurs, Yet Couldn't Adapt Back Then But Now They Can?

A brief history of the monsters was explained saying they go planet to planet destroying everything on so they can acquire more resources (same old alien invasion story, right?!). However, it is said the Kaiju came to Earth millions of years earlier and they were actually the dinosaurs. Unfortunately, the planet was not suitable and the Kaiju could not live on Earth at that time because the atmosphere and environment was not suitable, so those dinosaurs on Earth died. Yet, they come back adapted to Earth because the human race has pretty much terraformed the planet for them.

But the problem is the adapting part. It took millions of years for the monster race to adapt to Earth while now it only takes them a few days to adapt to Earth's weapons and attacks against the monsters? Something just doesn't sound right with that.

One Good Thing... Ron Freakin' Perlman!

To close this review out, let's end on a good note. There was one good thing about Pacific Rim and that was actor Ron Perlman. The guy is just a powerful screen presence in everything he does and even though his role in this film is small and short, he is by far the best actor performance in the entire movie. Perlman is always the best part of any movie he is in. Fact.


So these are a few of the issues with Pacific Rim that bothered The Daily SuperHero and there are probably many more that have already been forgotten. Some viewers will argue the score given and issues seen and everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

Bottom line is that this is just a popcorn movie without much else to it. Is it worth seeing for the fight scenes? Most definitely! But do not expect more than the fights, the punches, monster blood and destruction in those scenes.


6.5/10


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