In the film season typically fueled by nonstop sequels, it’s nice to witness an original blockbuster. Basically, this is a giant monsters vs. giant robots film – every teenage boy’s dream right? And sure, the film is an obvious nod to those Japanese monsters and mecha films/anime, but this is still an original story filled with original characters. It’s a passion project from talented director Guillermo del Toro (‘Hellboy’, ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’), and I respect his ambition completely.

In ‘Pacific Rim’, a portal opens up at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean where monsters called Kaiju creep through to cause mayhem and destruction. To fight back, the world’s nations banded together to create huge robots called Jaegers. These jaegers are piloted by two humans whose thoughts and minds are connected together through neural links. This is so because piloting a jaeger alone is practically an impossible task.

At the center of the film is Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam), a capable Jaeger pilot who retired for personal reasons. He’s recruited back into the program by Commanding Officer Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba, ‘Prometheus’) who wishes to make one final assault on kaiju portal once and for all. Rinko Kikuchi (‘Babel’) portrays Mako Mori, Raleigh’s new co-pilot, a formidable fighter with her own dark past.

I’ve heard a lot of complaints before the film’s release that ‘Pacific Rim’ looks like a cheap copy and cross of Transformers and Godzilla. Rest assured, this is no Transformers. The jaegers and kaiju depicted are way bigger than any of the robots from the Transformers film, and they’re totally different. And it’s only like Godzilla because of the giant monster aspect.

I really like that the film is made up of mostly unknown actors, and also that they’re international. It makes the film feel more grounded, and the international aspect shows the worldwide ramifications the kaiju attacks. Idris Elba is wonderful as ever here, and his powerful presence is noticeable in every scene he’s in. Ron Perlman steals every one of his scenes, even though they’re limited. Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Mori are good here, with some nice chemistry, but the story never develops these characters enough for us to really get to know them. Hopefully (if this film makes enough money), future films will expand on these characters.

The cgi and special effects in ‘Pacific Rim’ are first rate. The fight sequences, and there are plenty, are memorable. The designs of the jaegers are awesome. Each one is different from the other, with different fighting styles and abilities. I appreciate del Toro’s emphasis on making sure the film doesn’t look like a car commercial (cough cough Transformers). The fights are almost always at night, in water, and in rainy weather. This can be bothersome at times, like when you can’t really see what’s going on, but I can respect the decision to do so.

Other than the issue with not focusing on Raleigh and Mako’s backstory, my only other complaint with the film is how much it tells us about the kaiju and their origins. ‘Pacific Rim’ would’ve benefitted from the “less is more” rule. The origin and purpose of the kaiju has me feeling iffy, and I would’ve been fine with not knowing anything. That’s one of the problems with a lot of monsters and even horror films nowadays Sometimes, the mysterious threats are more threatening the less we know about them.

‘Pacific Rim’ is the type of summer flick movie studios should strive more towards. It’s an original film from a highly talented director, with a well-written story and great vision.

Three and a half out of four Kent’s.

PS: There’s a mid-credits scene.