Monday, July 15, 2013

The Kaiju Mash (It Was A Jaeger Smash)

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There was definitely an outside chance that I might not like Pacific Rim. Take for example what happened earlier this Summer, just a few short weeks ago in fact (a lifetime in Summer Movie Season, I'll grant you) - I was very much looking forward to Man of Steel. I've defended Zack Snyder for years (300 forever) and I saw Henry Cavill's chest hair when I closed my eyes. And then the movie came out and sat there and bugged the living crap out of me. And here we were with another fan-boy director (granted Del Toro's always had more critical cred than Snyder) digging into the toy-box and smashing his million dollar toys together with another one of my most lustful of male objects center-pieced and seemingly objectified...

I am happy to report then that Pacific Rim took its big monster robot hands and reached backwards through time and space and gave my twelve-year old self the biggest happiest hand-job I could've ever imagined a big monster robot movie from the future doing. If I ever could or would have imagined such a thing. (And I probably did imagine such a thing, knowing my twelve-year old self.) I just had a really, really fun time with it. It's a great Summer movie, sure of what it wants to be and where it wants to be and happy to dance nimbly along side you leading the way. The movie flew right by - indeed as it got closer and closer to what I knew would be its resolution I found myself actively saddened. Right before the movie started I'd looked up how long it was, having just read Del Toro's quote about how no movies meant for young people's Summer-fun consumption should never be longer than two hours lest our patience wain as our butts begin to hurt, and when I saw that Rim actually did last longer than two hours I was wary. (And yes I am totally aware that I just wrote a sentence about butts hurting from a Rim being too long.) But I needn't fret - I wanted this Rim to go on forever!

In theory I get people's complaints - about some logic inconsistencies and flat slash broad characterizations - but Del Toro's world was just too much fun and his enthusiasm and cleverness trumped all that jazz. And in Guillermo's hands this doesn't feel like the sort of Michael Bay cop-out I've railed against in the past where it crawls under my skin, somebody expecting me to turn my brain off and "just have fun" - I simply didn't feel like I was turning my brain off. I was being swept away by simple storytelling and giddy showmanship. And I was sponging up all the rich details of the world he'd created, my eyes soaking up every nook and cranny.

And what gorgeous nooks and crannies! Another complaint I've seen and one I absolutely positively do not get is the film being too dark or murky - I found the color scheme gorgeous, and all those night and under-water fights hypnotically beautiful. There were moments when some moments felt over-edited and my eyeballs were racing to catch up but then he'd toss in an absolutely epic shot - that Newton's Cradle moment, you guys! - and suddenly the rhythms felt purposeful instead of being an egregiously stupid assault upon the senses. I am dying to go see this thing on a gigantic screen again, and I have no doubt when I do my eyes will pick up all kinds of new fascinating little fascinations, amid the delightful maelstrom. My twelve-year old self is most looking forward to it!
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