Take the best (and some of the worst) elements of Transformers,
Godzilla, Armageddon, Real Steel, Top Gun and Starship Troopers and you end up
with Guillermo Del Toro’s Robots Vs. Monsters mash-up starring Charlie Hunnam
(Sons Of Anarchy) and Idris Elba (Luther).
The Earth is under attack from huge monsters knows as Kaijus
so the World unites to combat the common enemy. Their solution is to build robots
of similar size to the beasts, these robots are piloted by two humans and fully
loaded with all kinds of weapons, they are known as Jaegers. Initially the
Jaegers repel the threat but soon the Kaijus develop new ways to attack and the
Jaegers (and their pilots) are deemed redundant.
Led by Commander Pentecost (Elba) a small group continue to
pilot the remaining Jaegers and come up with a plan to eliminate the threat for
good.
Dominated by CGI fights this is very silly at times but in a
cheesy sort of way it remains enjoyable, if you can get past the first 30mins
or so. Hunnam is fine as the jaded Jaeger pilot brought out of retirement for
the final mission and Idris Elba exudes authority as the officer in charge.
There is also a cool turn from Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Sons of Anarchy) but the
two scientists are very irritating indeed.
If you can see past the dodgy dialogue and often
unintentionally funny monsters this is an easy viewing adventure that requires
no thinking on the part of the audience.
Pacific Rim is in cinemas now.
Ric’s Rating: Dodgy.
