As a kid I loved movies with giant monsters, in particular films with Godzilla. My favourite among those movies was Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, which featured a fight between giant monsters and a giant robot. After seeing the first trailer for Pacific Rim I was hoping for a modern version of these monster movies with up-to-date special effects.
In Pacific Rim humanity is under attack by giant sea monsters, known as Kaiju. Every time one of them emerges from the Pacific Ocean it causes massive loss of life and destruction when it reaches populated areas. As conventional weapons like tanks and fighter planes don’t prove very effective against the Kaiju humanity builds giant robots, called Jägers, to defend itself. This plan proves effective for several years until the increased frequency and size of the Kaijus slowly wear down the Jäger forces. When it is clear that humanity is losing the war the commander of the pilots of the Jägers pulls together the remaining working robots and the surviving pilots to launch one final assault. His plan is to close the portal at the bottom the Pacific Ocean through which the Kaiju get to Earth. But it is a desperate plan which has been attempted before and has always failed.
Pacific Rim is exactly what I was hoping for: a lot action and excellent special effects. The Kaiju are fast and maneuverable and look nothing like the rubber monsters of the past. In between the action there is still room for the human aspects of the story: a washed-up Jäger pilot who gets a second chance, mad scientists which try to unravel the mysteries of the enemy and a rookie pilot who wants to prove herself and avenge the death of her family. Fortunately the story is told without the military pathos that you often find in apocalyptic movies.
If you like action movies you probably want to watch this movies, if you like giant monster movies you must watch it. I definitely got what I was hoping for. 🙂