With Pacific Rim, Beacham's dialogue rolls along without much incidence, and the storytelling methods are pretty straight forward, subject matter aside (it's pretty out there). And, I have to say, out of every script I've read so far, THE SPELLING WAS IMPECCABLE. The presentation: unbelievably super clean. So clean, you'd think it was a final draft--a real final draft (it wasn't). The difficulties involved mostly being a very conceptual film ... with its own glossary! At first, I felt like I needed computer science AND biology degrees. There are several very unique terms which appear to have little relation to the English language, and more Asian-influence. After a while, I grew accustomed. I read an old version of the script, which has a major female character (a widow of the male protagonist's brother named Flick--I pictured Allison mack from Smallville for some reason), but, judging from the IMDb, she has totally been axed.
The gist of the story (if I can remember correctly--but, I could totally be getting things wrong here, so don't shoot me!), is that it's set in the future and there's a war going on. We live in global community, though a good part of the film takes place in the East Asian and Oceaniac regions. By cosmic intervention, there are these monstrous, destructive creatures--called kaiju--emerging from underneath the Pacific Ocean, at least, physically, though, metaphysically, this "place" is another dimension. They're attacking cities all over the world. I seem to recall Peru, Korea, and Japan being three of their targets. They're wreaking havoc everywhere. I got a serious Godzilla vibe from all of the mayhem. To combat and defeat them, soldiers, who work for a united coalition that involves most, if not all, countries on the planet, must operate these Jaegars (both these and the kaiju each have names that reminded me of race horses). Each of these "vehicles"--which also gave me a Godzilla meets Starship Troopers (without the irony) vibe--seat two officers. Their brains are somehow synced with each other, as well as their machine, and the only way for the Jaegars to function is cerebrally via the soldiers; everything is controlled by brain waves. How effective they are at defeating the kaiju depends on how emotionally sound they are and connected with each other. There's a love story between two of them. There was also another love story between reporter Flick and a scientist trying to discern the source of the kaiju, but that seems to have been cut.
The story was fun, inventive, and definitely original. The film touches on battle fatigue, as well as damaged souls finding each other (think the Korean set-piece in Cloud Atlas). While fascinating, my empathy for the characters was lacking. I just couldn't get there emotionally (maybe I'm dead inside?). Perhaps, I was burnt out from having just read Elysium. Rim had a lot of action scenes, which may easily be brought to life, judging from the trailer. And, while Elysium's conceit wasn't fully realized and rather oversimplified, Rim threw enough scientific jargon my way that I was less critical and more accepting of its more metaphysical elements.
I can't really properly review it, though, as a non-science-fiction aficionado. I really have to leave it to the experts. I mean, this script was hard core science-fiction. This is the kind of movie Sheldon and company from The Big Bang Theory would enjoy, though I imagine he would have more than his share of problems with technical details (that would actually make a good scene). Like I said, there was a glossary and the script was very conceptual. And, I was left wondering about its commercial prospects. I had serious doubts that this script would draw a large audience, at least stateside, to make up its budget. I imagine the adjustments dumbed a lot of the film down for the average filmgoer. And, I hope, for the sake of the fans of del Toro, it wasn't too much. This is his first film since Pan's Labyrinth that doesn't have Hellboy in his title. Hopefully, it will be a hit. I don't care if it's crap. There are so many known properties being made into films repeatedly, we really need people paying money to watch more unique fare.
Plot Summary (spoilers)
(Please note: This is based on an early version by Beacham and is, by far, not the version that will be released in theaters)
At his counselor’s office, Raleigh Antrobus (Charlie Hunnam) is plugged into a virtual incident he experienced a year before, but then disengages. The counselor implores him to confront his past in order to work through it. He leaves the office and there are monitors in the lobby showing Tokyo under attack. Pilot Aki Seto died. Cut to the actual scene, where Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba) comforts the surviving copilot, the distraught Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi). You have to understand that they were pilots of these massive robotic machines, which they operated with their minds working on the same plane.
In her car parked in a driveway of a bar and grill in Port Hueneme, California, reporter Felicity “Flick” Kincaid (character axed from script?) discusses the location of a source with Jim, which turns out to be outside of Lima, Peru. She decides to fly there. She gets out of her car after spotting Raleigh, the brother of her dead ex-fiancée Yance, and questions him about monsters (or kaiju, one of those huge robots from the trailer) coming out of the Pacific Ocean. When she brings up The Interstice, which happens to be a region five miles underneath the ocean that separates the universe from the anteverse, Raleigh goes cold. Raleigh and Yance were copilots in a jaeger, a virtual vehicle of sorts, which means they shared each others' most intimate thoughts, which included those of Flick.
At his home, Lt. Commander Roscoe Calhoun enlists Raleigh to man another jaeger in Tokyo with Mako. Flick falls asleep while looking at a framed Vanity Fair cover sporting the Antrobus brothers, for which she wrote the article. She has a nightmare about Yance, surrounded by pools of blood, involving a kaiju spreading wildfire.
At central command in Tokyo, on a man-made island connected by causeway, Pentecost greets Raleigh. In the locker room, Mako shares some words with pilot Kaori Jessop. Pentecost prepares Raleigh. He introduces him to Kaori and her husband Duc, shows him his Mark-1 jaeger, called Gipsy Danger, and introduces him to Mako. They begin a series of exercises to train for their time in the jaeger together.
A driver takes Flick up to the Calixto Particle Observatory near Lima, Peru, to meet Dr. Newt Gottlieb (Charlie Day or Burn Gorman?). He consults with his colleague Myron Toynbee. They share data with her that on the day of the attack on Osaka, a parallel universe opened up in the Pacific Ocean with aliens putting out signals. A scientist Ivo Czerny was working on it and was close to a breakthrough, but got transferred to the Australian outback. Flick believes the alien life forms are going to start a war. Newt invites himself along to Flick’s journey to Australia. Before they leave, an alarm goes off in the city and an “unholy fusion of tarantula and dragon” called Dengue attacks. A fleet of copters drop a Mark-2 jaeger Puma Real. Newt gives up his scooter to a desperate man. The two giants square off in battle. Newt and Flick hide with others in a drainage pipe. Dengue, along with the city of Lima are, destroyed. Newt waits at the airport with Flick, as she contacts Raleigh about what she has found out.
Raleigh is sent on a mission. We enter his virtual world of operating Gipsy Danger, along with Mako (Pentecost translates), while they do battle with enemy Slattern. Mako experiences a drift—a memory of hers that Raleigh will also witness as if it’s his own—to the day she lost her partner Aki. She drifts again to her childhood in Osaka when her father dies in the wake of the first kaiju, Trespasser. Raleigh aborts their mission, which turns out to be a simulation.
At an international meeting, a panel of countries interrogate Sci-Division General Takada on the frequency of attacks, as well as the plan to stop them. In private, Pentecost requests that Takada graduates a cadet pair early. Raleigh shoots hoops with Duc and confides in him about Mako’s past. Pentecost has Raleigh and Mako slow dance with each other. There is a montage of ghost drifts including Yance, Mako as a young girl dealing with her father’s death, Raleigh processing his brother’s death, Mako discovering Aki dead, Tortuga battling Coyote Tango, etc. Raleigh and Mako begin to see each other for all of what they are. In another ghost drift, Raleigh and Mako meet, and find themselves dancing naked in a grove of cherry blossoms, kissing. They both wake up and almost leave their rooms to meet each other.
Cut to Flick and Yance on the Santa Monica pier at sunset, as Tortuga and Coyote Tango battle. She then realizes the pier is deserted, but it’s a dream. Newt tends to Flick’s wounds and she accuses him of having feelings for her. They travel to the Eschaton Institute in Australia to visit Czerny. Meanwhile, South Korea is the latest attack and battle site between a jaegar and kaiju, draining the country of its power. Duc and Raleigh watch on TV as the kaiju gives birth mid-attack in Busan. An alarm sounds summoning Raleigh and Mako to action. They’re loaded into their jaeger Gipsy Danger. Takada presides over their activity, as they struggle to sync with each other. Copters transport Gipsy Danger to Busan. While they battle Invidia, they both drift, before finally connecting with each other and overpowering their opponent. They drift again, before they’re able to neutralize Invidia. Everyone celebrates in a bar afterwards. Duc sings the karaoke version of Alphaville’s “Forever Young.” Raleigh and Mako go back to their living quarters and make love.
Czerny explains to Flick that the monsters are from the anteverse located in the Pacific Ocean beyond the interstice which divides them from the human world, of which they created. Newt is more concerned with stopping the signals being carried out in the universe, but Czerny is fascinated about exploring the anteverse. Later, Czerny busts Flick who is snooping around. He takes her to a backroom where he holds a kaiju’s brain. While doing snooping of his own, Newt finds a pair of reading glasses which allow him to see holographics invisible to the naked eye. Czerny secures Flick and proceeds to connect her to the brain. Thumbing through holographic files, he is able to examine the interstice. Flick gets a taste of the ugly anteverse. Czerny busts Newt. When Newt tries to stop Czerny from pulling out a bomb, he pushes him out of the way. They continue to scuffle. Despite getting stabbed with a letter opener, Newt breaks free and saves Flick, narrowly escaping the detonating bomb. After he performs CPR on her, she wakes only to wish to die having seen the anteverse and the imminent doom which lie ahead.
In Pudong, Shanghai, Gipsy Danger prevails over Oolong in simulation. Pentecost gives Mako his approval for having relations with Raleigh. Raleigh and Mako make more love. They ghost drift to the battle between Tortugo and Coyote Tango operated by Raleigh and Yance and process his brother’s death.
Nearing Mt. Fuji, Newt hatches a plan to destroy the interstice. Flick kisses him. Duc and Kaori prepare for battle. A kaiju Komodo descends upon Yokohama and takes on Tacit Ronin. The jaeger ends up killing Komodo, only to have to deal with Fulcrum. As Duc and Kaori prepare for death, Gipsy Danger saves them. The two jaegers tag-team the kaiju, freezing Fulcrum, before he falls and shatters into pieces. Flick shows up, as the mess is hauled away. Raleigh implores Pentecost to listen to Newt. He gives a presentation for the soldiers, as well as Pentecost and Takada, for closing the interstice. He wants to use a bomb, but the commanders school him on there not being enough uranium to power the explosion. Raleigh disagrees, suggesting using a jaeger as a bomb. Pentecost and Takada deliberate over sending Raleigh and Mako on a suicide mission. Takada confirms that Czerny found a way to through the interstice. Raleigh and Mako discuss sacrificing themselves for the greater good.
Techs prepare Gipsy Danger for the mission, crossing the eject buttons. Flick says goodbye to Raleigh. Everyone salutes Raleigh and Mako as they load in for their final mission. Takada explains the plan to the press. Report comes that dozens of kaiju are bursting out of Midway—the epicenter of the interstice. Cities across the world prepare their jaegers. On their way to Midway, a kaiju narrowly misses attacking Gipsy Danger. Copters drop the jaeger into the ocean towards Midway. In Odaiba, Tacit Ronin is surrounded by kaiju Tengu, Pharoah, and Scunner. Gipsy Danger enters the throat of the interstice and battles kaiju on its way down. Tacit Ronin loses an arm. After destroying two of the kaiju, and depleting its coolant reservoirs, Tactit Ronin must take care of Scunner. Kaori is severely injured. Mako drifts. Kaori recovers, and Tacit Ronin is victorious over the final kaiju. Mako drifts again. She embraces in a kiss with Raleigh and they engage the self-destruct function, as well as eject. The bomb goes off and the interstice collapses. Raleigh and Mako both make it to safety. The End.
Box Office/Oscar Prospects
I have no idea if this will be a hit or a miss. My instinct is that it will be too much for mainstream audiences to swallow, even if the revisions dumb everything down (or especially so). That being said, I hope it's a massive hit! As far as Oscar chances, I'll say the predictable thing and go with: Visual Effects, Sound Effects Editing, and Sound Mixing. Perhaps an outside shot at Cinematography end Editing.
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