Thoughts on Pacific Rim:
This film is in the tradition of the great summer blockbusters like Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, 2001, etc. Pacific Rim has a fantastic sense of wonder and feeling that these big films, all films really, need in order to connect with the audience. We don't love Raiders of the Lost Ark solely for its excellent action sequences, but for the great characters and the staging of events to heighten our emotions. In Pacific Rim, there is a scene which brings us into the horrors of the Kaiju in such a manner that you simply connect with the character's fears on a visceral level. Guillermo del Toro make her fears become your fears. Moments like this are what makes Pacific Rim special. Yes, on its surface it can appear to be a Transformers (more like Gundam tbh)/Godzilla knock off, but it's the little touches that make this film spectacular in the way those great films made us feel.
The fight scenes in this film are very beautiful and visceral. Guillermo del Toro and his team have not only designed these amazing Yaegers and Kaijus, but they have made them feel large and massive with an understanding of scope that makes these fights believable within this universe. I'll say no more because these fight scenes have so many surprising and fun moments that you haven't seen in the promotional materials.
The cast is really good. The main character, played by Charlie Hunnan, is ok in a Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker way, but much like Star Wars, you will be more interested in the film's other characters. Idris Elba (from @Lee's The Wire) and Rinko Kikuchi's (Babel) characters are the emotion center of the film and are just fantastic. The comic relief provided by the two scientists played by Charlie Day and Burn Gorman as well as Ron Pearlman's Kaiju organ dealer can be silly and a little nerdy, but still fun and accessible.
So I really loved the film, easily the best "Hollywood" film that I have seen this summer. (Before Midnight and Frances Ha currently are my overall favorite films this summer) It's the kind of film that audiences subconsciously want, but rarely get. I saw it in IMAX 3D and it looks and sounds spectacular. (The 3D in this film, a post conversion, has received the James Cameron seal of approval) Simply put, see Pacific Rim, it's the best film of the summer and we need to encourage the studios to take creative risks and entrust the best and brightest filmmakers to dream BIG and SMART.
@
bubbles1812, I hope I've persuaded you to give PR a shot.