Pacific Rim Is Big But Empty Say The Critics - Review Roundup
Guillermo Del Toro missed out on his chance to helm The Hobbit films, with the Tolkien-experienced Peter Jackson getting the nod. Now the Mexican film maker has had his hands on a multi-million Hollywood Blockbuster, but has he made the most of it?
Check out the Pacific Rim trailer here
The premise is simple: huge monsters are emerging from the depths of the ocean – a kind of portal to another world deep in the sea – and attacking populated cities, causing millions of death. The humans, that’s us; we then develop huge fighting robots, which require two soldiers fighting as one via a neural handshake, as they call it. Surprisingly, the critics haven’t slated it, but it hasn't been unanimously praised, either.
“They don't let 14 year-old boys direct multi-million dollar feature films, but somehow Guillermo Del Toro has channeled the interests, attitudes and fears from that mindset with a clarity that far surpasses contemporaries like Michael Bay,” says The Daily Telegraph, basically saying this is a film for 14 year old boys, which is very much is. “A visually striking film but hollowed-hearted,” say HeyUguys. Surprisingly, given the shallow nature of this action-packed sci fi adventure, Idris Elba and co. are still enjoying a 78% rating on Rotten Tomatoes – not too shabby at all.
The reviews aren’t all good, though: “Guillermo del Toro doesn't rise above the obligations of staging a film of this sort as a multi-level video game, a stylish but programmatic ride toward an inevitable final boss battle,” say Slant Magazine. Pacific Rim is out on July 12th, and if you want an all-out battle between huge robots and Godzilla-like monsters, then you’re in for a treat. If you like characters development and good films, you should probably avoid it.