This highly anticipated sci-fi blockbuster was jam packed with action and will surely be considered among the best films of the summer. When gigantic creatures named ‘Kaiju’ start rising from beneath the ocean and attacking cities taking the lives of millions, Earth is forced to unite. Equally large robots named ‘Jaegers’ that are controlled by the neural bridge between two pilots are created to protect humans from the wild destructive nature of the Kaiju.
Rough Diamond Raleigh, played by Charlie Hunnam is asked to return to pilot a legendary Jaeger named Gypsy Danger that he previously lost his brother in 6 years previously. He has to operate it with a complete stranger, this process has never been used before and has killed pilots in the past. The other Jaeger pilots do not have much admiration for Raleigh who is constantly referred to as a ‘has been’ and the process that he goes through to prove himself is typical of any action film but manages not to be too drawn out thanks to the relationship with an aspiring female pilot Mako.
As much as I enjoyed the film there were many moments in the film that could have been better. The visuals of battle were predominantly CGI and I feel that this process should allow for no errors because of the ease to edit them out. An example of these anomalies would be the eight helicopters that carry Jaegers into the sea to fight Kaiju, this may seem a rather pernickety to critique an action film on this basis however an enthusiastic physicist has made the calculation that at 2500 tonnes, it would take at least 64 helicopters to pick up a Jaeger. This is one of a number of ridiculous errors that cost the film its place in the realm of the believable where physics apply. It must however be said that visually the film is very pleasing to the eye and the Jaegers and Kaiju are incredible.
The casting was very pleasing with Charlie Day and Burn Gorman playing a free thinking biologist and a tight-laced mathematician respectively which provided much amusement and their scientific insight helped bring a conclusion to the film. The film also sees Idris Elba, best known from hit BBC series Luther star as the General of the Jaeger mission and legendary Ron Perlman who plays a Gangster in Hong Kong who is recycling Jaeger parts to the black market.
Director and Co-writer Guillermo Del Toro brings some culture to this major American production. The complexity of the characters compared to other comparative action films such as Iron Man 3 is not gimmicky and based on catch phrases and serves to add purpose to what otherwise would probably be simply another summer action film.
4 Stars ★★★★✰
