Pacific Rim 2013 9 out of 10

Pacific Rim 2013   9 out of 10

Pacific Rim is director Guillermo del Toro's love letter to the Godzilla monster movies of the past.  With a beautiful visual palette he has taken everything great about the old school man in a suit crushing models of cities and taken it into the digital realm.   The movie takes place in the future where Earth is being invaded by  Kaijus (Giant Monsters) from an inter dimensional portal in the bottom of the ocean's floor .  In order to try and protect the Earth from these monsters we have built giant robotic monsters of our own called Jaegers.  Basically the movie is Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla on an epic scale.

  

The Story:  The story was interesting.  I liked the ideas of the an inter dimensional portal in the oceans floor as being where the monsters came from.  This concept is much better than the nuclear radiation that fueled all of the Godzilla era monsters.  Unlike the Godzilla era monsters that attacked cities for no apparent reason these Kaiju have a purpose.  They are here as an invasion force that is becoming more and more relentless by the day.  

The Visuals: The visuals were epic and stunning especially in the neon hues during the battle in Hong Kong.  I have liked each of Guillermo's dips into the world of fantasy better with each film. 

The Cast: The cast was solid especially Idris Elba as the commander of the Jaeger unit.  Ron Perlman who starred in both Hellboy films makes an appearance in a smaller role in this film as well.   This is what a monster movie should be.  A much better effort than the 1998 dud that was the relaunching of Godzilla.  

All in all Pacific Rim was an exciting and interesting tribute to genre that it improves upon. 

A must see for fans of that genre of films.