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DESTROY ALL MONSTERS
PACIFIC RIM (PG-13) Deep beneath the waves
of the Pacific Ocean, an inter-dimensional fis
sure has erupted, and it's spewing mammoth
gigantic beasts from its darkness. The mon
sters, called kaiju, are laying waste to us puny
humans and ravaging the earth. Humankind,
however, is not taking this in stride. Faced
with extinction, ingenious men and women
have figured out a way to stave off total anni
hilation: construct giant robots commandeered
by tag-team pilot warriors who will engage the
kaiju with brute force. Colossal monsters and
robots face off, and
we all get to watch
the damage with kid-
frenzy delight.
Summer mov
ies over the last
decade???at least
of the big, brawny
Hollywood blockbuster
sort???have tended to
be mired in angst or
warped from the strain of stupidity running
riot through them. Mexican director Guillermo
del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, Hetlboy II: The
Golden Army) is arguably the finest fantasy
filmmaker working today, a practitioner of daz
zling imagery and aggressively creative action
set pieces that cater unapologetically to geeks
raised on comic books, anime, horror and sci
ence fiction. What makes del Toro stand apart
from other directors of his kind, however,
is his ability to root his fantastical stories
firmly in character and a sometimes startling,
thoughtful humanity. Del Toro's career, which
has delivered the garish comic book delights
of the Hellboy movies to the more complex
hauntings of the brilliant The Devil's Backbone,
offers up the visceral visual goods we crave in
our genre movies, but he also knows how to
pull back and allow poetry to subtly seep in.
Pacific Rim is a thunderous experience and
del Toro's most energetic spectacle yet. One
of the most interesting aspects of his career
is how he easily oscillates between brawny
commercial features like Mimic and Blade II
and more artistically
substantial produc
tions like The Devil's
Backbone and Pan's
Labyrinth, the lat
ter two infused with
the influence of
Cocteau and Bava
yet still entirely
fresh. Pacifc Rim
wears its Japanese
monster movie influence openly, though it is
not del Toro at his best. The plentiful action
sequences are visually coherent for the most
part and far from the slick emptiness of the
Transformers flicks, but ultimately it is simply
big robots beating the hell out of towering
monsters. But the movie is also exuberantly
playful and inventive in its world-building.
As summer blockbusters go, it's the most fun
you'll have in a multiplex all season.
Derek Hill
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