Finally! A Summer 2013 movie that isn’t a sequel, was actually rendered in 3-D (not converted) and didn’t suck! The comparisons to Transformers or Japanese Anime are grossly misinformed. Pacific is our fantasy response to Godzilla-like attacks if we didn’t have a giant monster on our side.
I have just two serious complaints. Number one: The acting is rather melodramatic but nobody really cares…the jaeger v. kaiju (robot v. monster) fights are the stars. Number two: It seems the kaiju only want to attack when it’s raining and/or dark. Two actors’ performances do stand out: Charlie Day brings the manic energy of his trademark character Charlie from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia as a kaiju-obsessed scientist; Ron Perlman brings levity as a black-market operator in Hong Kong.
There are a few ridiculous plot holes too. My favorite is the world’s governments deciding to construct walls around the population centers to keep the kaiju out because it’s cheaper than building new jaegers and/or training pilots. Never mind how giant walls failed to keep East Germans contained or Mongols and Mexicans out. Imagine the results when 250-foot monsters with acidic blood come a knocking.
Catch this in a theater. The immensity Pacific gives will be immediately lost on even the best big-screen TV. It’s also safe to take young children to see. There’s no blood ‘n gore violence, mostly impossible stuff.
Alamo Extras: I missed out here due to my failure to tell some friends what the exact time the movie’s start was. Being a decent person, I waited in the lobby to give them their tickets. I liked Pacific enough I will probably catch it again at the soon-to-be open Lakeline Alamo.