Pacific Rim

The year is 2020, and humanity has been in a battle for survival against constant attacks by gigantic beasts called Kaiju - the Japanese word for "monster". It seems a portal has opened up from the depths of the Atlantic Ocean into another realm where the Kaiju live. Humanity is on the brink of extinction until the Jaeger program is born. In the Jaeger program, large robots are built to fight back against the Kaiju. These Jaegers, as they're called, are piloted by two humans who are linked telepathically by something called the Drift. Once the two pilots' minds are linked in the Drift, they can control the Jaeger as one entity and use it to engage the Kaiju. The Jaeger program proves effective...for a few years. Eventually the Kaiju become faster, stronger, and ultimately smarter. As a result the Jaeger program is put on the back burner and an attempt to build giant walls strong enough to withstand attacks is made. One former Jaeger pilot named Marshal Stacker Pentacost still believes in the Jaeger program, so he makes one last ditch effort to save the Jaeger program by calling on the top Jaeger pilots and rebuilding four former Jaeger robots who had formerly been retired. One of the pilots Stacker calls upon is a man named Raleigh Beckett. At the beginning of the Jaeger program, Beckett and his brother Yancey proved to be two of the best pilots on the planet by defeating scores of Kaiju before Yancey is killed while battling a Kaiju. As a result, Beckett resolves never to step back into a Jaeger. At least, that's what he tells himself when Stacker comes knocking on his doorstep. It isn't until Stacker makes a strong case that Beckett agrees to step back into a Jaeger, and this time he is joined by a young, inexperienced pilot named Mako Mori. Together, with the help of several other pilots manning the other three Jaegers, Beckett and Mako dive headfirst into battle with the Kaiju to end the conflict once and for all.

When I first saw the ads for Pacific Rim, I thought it looked really stupid. I was honestly wondering why it wasn't called Godzilla: The Next Generation, or something similar, because it looked exactly like yet another Godzilla monster movie. In that regards, it met my expectations; it's pretty much a stereotypical humanity vs. monsters flick. It is however, tons better than most monster movies I've seen in recent years. Most seem to be only about how much destruction can one (or more) monster(s) make when attacking cities. Pacific Rim is thankfully more intelligent and more entertaining than most monster movies. It has its plot holes and other issues, but for the most part it is a lot of fun. I am also curious as to what Hollywood has against New York City, Los Angeles, and San Diego. It always seems to be those three cities that get destroyed, whether it's by a Godzilla-type of monster, alien invasion, or attacked by an evil villain. All in all, it turned out to be a decent monster movie that audiences will have a lot of fun watching.