Pacific Rim review: Of Kaiju's and Jaegers

There’s something about the look and feel of lots of metal, bolts, robots, and monsters that does something to a woman’s testosterone.

I am usually not a fan of action movies- the explosions, the music, the horrible script; but I must say that watching Pacific Rim may have changed my mind- at least when it comes to awesome monsters and robots!

In the movie, these monsters that mysteriously rise up from the Pacific Ocean are called Kaiju (怪獣 kaijū?) which is a Japanese word that literally translates into “strange creature” but now is universally translated and defined in English as “monster” or “giant monsters”.

Like Godzilla, these Guillermo del Toro Kaiju creations is a representation of the end of the world.

Godzilla was conceived in 1954 as a metaphor for nuclear weapons with the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki incident still fresh in the Japanese consciousness.

Begs the question, what does Pacific Rim’s Kaiju’s represent? Definitely the end of the era, fragility of the human race, and the demons that lies deep within us.

The parallels are uncanny.

Faced with adversity, the humans decide to band together and combat the monsters.

A special type of weapon is designed: massive, fighting machines, known as Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are bound in a neural link which lets them share the mental strain which would otherwise overwhelm a single pilot.

The human’s race last try at “cancelling the Apocalypse!”. *que epic music*

I have to admit, though the script is cheesy at times, the sight of those massive robots battling the creatures of the deep really is a sight to behold.

The action and epic awesomeness aside, knowing Guillermo del Torros work from critically acclaimed films such as Pans Labyrinth and Hell boy- though there is an ominous underlying tone, there is always a message behind the sharp teeth, blood, and brutal fight scenes.

For me, it is this: Demons lie deep within us, at times hard to control, and if let loose will destroy everything.

But if we as the human race band together to battle these demons we can defeat anything- be it hunger, poverty, environmental degradation, inequality and the list goes on.

Maybe I am reading too much into it, but one thing is for sure- I give this movie two thumbs up and definitely want to watch it again. Who’s game?