Rim Shot

I pause now in my vacation recap (perhaps to the relief of some of you) to cover a movie that opened this weekend. Last night, I went to see Pacific Rim, the new summer blockbuster from director Guillermo del Toro. I probably should have opted out, because (as I noted in my review of World War Z) I'm getting tired of noisy destruction this movie season. Certainly, I hadn't been planning to go when I first saw the trailer in front of The Hobbit last winter. But then the reviews starting coming in for the new film, and it seemed to be a chorus of praise. This was one of the good action movies, they said, fun and fantastical.

Personally, I think the lineup of films so far this summer just lulled the critics into more relaxed standards.

First, I will say that Pacific Rim was by no means a mess. There were indeed some good things about it. There was a lot more humor in the film that most any other summer film I've seen so far, and it was generally quite successful. The best plot thread in the movie is a rivalry between ridiculous scientists played by Charlie Day and Burn Gorman. They snipe on each other constantly, introducing a much appreciated light tone to the film. And Ron Perlman's character is fantastic.

The music, from Game of Thrones composer Ramin Djawadi, is also excellent. It's orchestral at times, rock at others, frenetic and furious throughout.

Now, some of my friends have been commenting on this movie on Facebook and so forth, and it generally goes, "giant robots fighting giant monsters, what more do you want?" And while I do agree that a film should generally be judged on its own execution against its own aspirations, not some objective demand that every movie be a life-realigning work of didactic greatness, I don't think that gives action movies a pass to be boring and lazy. There are plenty of outstanding action movies with meaningful character content and intelligent plotting: Terminator (the first two films by James Cameron), The Matrix, and many of the James Bond films, just to name a few examples I rate highly.

Pacific Rim does try to have character and plot, but it steals what little it has from other movies. I felt I was watching an uninspired mashup of two other movies in particular. The recipe called for one part Top Gun. We get a parade of familiar and cliché scenes about pilots -- the bonds they forge with their co-pilots, the rivalries they have with other pilots, pointless taunting over whether someone has lost their edge, and the grudging respect ultimately earned when one pulls another's ass out of the fire.

Add to that one part Independence Day. We get an avalanche of "disaster porn" that shows us major worldwide landmarks being (or having been) destroyed, with loveable eggheads working behind the scenes to find a solution as charismatic leaders give posturing speeches to inspire those beneath them.

Garnish with Japanese monster movie and serve at 100 decibels.

I guess my problem with Pacific Rim was ultimately this: if it's just going to be Top Gun/Independence Day/Godzilla, then at least be better than those movies. Setting aside which Godzilla film we might be talking about, Top Gun and Independence Day were better than average, yes, but with plenty of room to improve. In the hands of a filmmaker like Guillermo del Toro, that should have been a given. But instead, Pacific Rim serves up visual style every bit as involved as Pan's Labyrinth, but without any substance. Without the humor to sustain it, I think it would have fallen well below average. As it is, average is as good as it gets. I give it a C.