Transformers meet Godzilla with an inspiring speech worthy of Independence Day. There, now you know the whole plot of
My son who is currently an animation student in college said
it included all of his favorite things: giant robots kicking alien butt in the
Lovecraft genre style of horror, complete with lots of explosions, a cute
Asian girl, Japanese references, Director Guillermo del Toro, and amazing
CGI. He even got a kick out of hearing
the same actress who voices the popular video game “Portal.” He said the only thing he thought the movie
lacked was Liam Neeson. Ha ha
You probably won’t recognize a lot of the actors, such as
big screen newbies Charlie Hunnam and Diego Klattenhoff, who play brothers
whose minds become linked when fighting inside a giant robot called a Jaeger,
designed to fight cool alien creatures from the sea. The actors actually look alike, as does Burn
Gorman, another Jaeger fighter who tries to save the world from threatening
monsters. You will, however, get a kick
out of seeing Hellboy’s Ron Perlman,
who plays Hannibal Chau, named after his favorite historical figure and second-favorite restaurant in Brooklyn. Director Guillermo del Toro admitted that if
he could ever form a neural handshake with anyone that it would be Ron
Perlman. Yeah. Ron Perlman has been in every single one of
Guillermo del Toro’s movies.
The movie has that “Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots” feel to it and
is even a little comic book clichéd, but it has enough incredible CGI special
effects to fill the Pacific Ocean . Watching it in 3D will keep you right inside
the action, but if you’re sitting too close to an IMAX screen you will get
swallowed up by it.
Unlike some alien movies, you get to see a LOT
of these creatures up close. They’re
super cool-looking, scary, and even have some pretty Avatar blue streaks and ooze.
Director Guillermo del Toro includes a whirling mixture of digital,
analog, complicated mechanisms, iconic big Russians, funky science with alien
body parts, Iron Man mobility, and
Steam Punk. The sound effects are beyond
big and cool. Rinko Kikuchi as a little
girl is the cutest thing ever.
Idris Elba’s delightful accent underscores the movies theme
that it takes the whole world’s efforts to save itself. The “drift” introduces the idea of two
people’s minds united in a common cause.
Who would YOU want to join with in the “drift”? No spoiler alert here: the world is saved and you’ll
leave the theater with a silly grin on your face.
Two fun quotes from the flick that show how it doesn’t take
itself too seriously:
“We can either sit here and do nothing or we can grab those flare
guns and go out there and do something really stupid.” (Herc Hansen)
“Today, at the edge of our hope, at the end of our time, we
have chosen not only to believe in ourselves, but in each other. Today we face the monsters that are at our
door. Today we are canceling the
apocalypse!” (Stacker Pentecost)
Grade: A-
Grade: A-
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