MOVIE SYNOPSIS
When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity’s resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes—a washed up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi)—who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind’s last hope against the mounting apocalypse. (source: collider.com)
Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim, which opens this northern summer, continues to impress, some clunky over-the-top “inspirational” dialogue aside and hackneyed narrative devices aside (I am counting on the legendary ferociously-talented director to rise above the usual blockbuster tropes), with the latest series of promotional posters released to mark its impending arrival on the world’s cinema screens.
Featuring humanity’s powerful response to the alien Kaiju threat (giant mechanised beasts that lay waste to humanity’s cities and towns), the similarly-gargantuan Jaegers, which are mankind’s best line of defense against these seaborne monsters, certainly add credence to Pacific Rim’s ambition to be one of the season’s “bigger than Ben Hur” contenders for box office glory.
And the exciting thing for this Aussie is that we have a Jaeger all of our very own!
Given that the Jaeger have quite possibly wiped out all of our other impressively-large icons – not just the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge but the Big Pineapple, and The Big Ram – it’s just as well that something that dwarfs them all is carrying the national colours with pride.
While the synopsis doesn’t bode well for the success of the Jaegers, which also carry the flags of the USA, Japan, China and Russia – what happened to the EU’s contributions? A victim of austerity measures perhaps? – it will be interesting to watch the battle royales that await between the Jaegers and Kaiju with mankind’s fate hanging precariously in the balance.
We only have to wait till 12 July to see who comes out on top.
* You can see the other three posters here.