Mar 23, 2018Nursebob rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
It’s easy to dismiss Guillermo del Toro’s crazy-stupid sci-fi thriller at first glance—after all the derivative storyline is preposterous and the script never rises above adolescent comic book schlock. But then you realize that beneath the glaring neon gewgaws and flash-bang effects this is actually a lovingly cheeky homage to every Japanese monster movie ever made. Sure, the hokey neoprene body suits have been replaced by high-tech models and CGI (the multi-eyed Kaiju resemble scaly King Kongs with the noggin of a Joe Dante gremlin), and the old cardboard and balsa wood mock-ups of downtown Tokyo have given way to digitally rendered cityscapes and elaborate Toronto sound stages, but this is still a universe in which Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan would feel right at home. Emoting seems to be the cardinal rule here and del Toro’s over-the-top special effects are paired with equally exaggerated performances especially by Idris Elba as a stone cold commander, Rinko Kikuchi as the little Japanese girl who could, and the team of Charlie Day and Burn Gorman camping it up as a pair of slapstick scientists who couldn’t have been sillier had they been played by Laurel & Hardy. Even B-Movie mainstay Ron Perlman has a cameo of sorts playing a black market entrepreneur pimped out in gold-plated shoes and wire goggles. The destruction is awesome, the fight sequences hilarious, and the whole production makes you feel like a kid sitting through a super cool Saturday afternoon matinee. Either take it for what it is or give it a pass because del Toro offers no middle ground.
Comment
Pacific Rim