This is RoboCop on steroids! As I watched, I mentally reviewed my Thesaurus for words that could describe these robots: Herculean, massive, enormous, gargantuan, stupendous, vast, humongus... Do you get the idea? I live on the eighth floor of my downtown condominium and these behemoths (there's another!) would have to stoop to look in my living-room window!
Earth has been attacked by gigantic monsters who came out of a volcanic rift in the Pacific Ocean. Humankind is helpless to ward them off and the end of the world as we know it is fast approaching. Only a handful of now-obsolete mechanical Jaegers (Hunters) offer any promise of hope, but each one requires two (2!) compatible operators to make it work.
Guillermo del Toro directed this action-filled (lotsa Computer Generated Imaging) PG-13 Sci-Fi fantasy. This is targeted specifically for fans, and last night, they were entertained! In addition, del Toro included clever bits for the rest of us, like tasteful pretend water drops splashed against a pretend lens, plus subliminal hints of other movies.
We see:
* Idris Elba ("The Wire") his rallying speech to his troops is Shakespearean, but we worry about his health. He has only two rules: One: you do not touch me. Two: you do not touch me!
* Charlie Hunnam ("Sons of Anarchy") is one of the last Jaeger operators.
* Ron Perlman ("Drive") gets the final word, wait for it! And check out those chuntaros (fancy Mexican shoes with extra long, pointed toes.)
* Max Martini (Lots, and lots, and LOTS of TV) is a veteran in the Jaeger unit.
* Robert Kazinsky ("Red Tails") is an egotistical S.O.B. with daddy issues, according to his commanding officer.
* Charlie Day ("Horrible Bosses") provides half of the comic relief (and some science) for this doom-laden situation.
* Burn Gorman ("Game of Thrones") is the other half of the comic relief.
* Rinko Kikuchi ("Sideways") provides the estrogen for this testosterone-soaked story.
As a non-fan of CGI, this became a bit of an endurance test for me (131 minutes), but there were delicious bits of humor and the interaction of the humans was mostly believable (unlike the moment when one of the monsters sprouted wings and gales of laughter erupted from the audience).
The visual effects are overwhelming. There is hardly any profanity, there are no kisses or sweaty bodies and very little blowie uppie stuff, but endless mayhem as CGI monsters whale the tar out of one another. Whew!
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