Pacific Rim: Giant Robots, Giant Monsters, Giant disappointment

Earth is being attacked by giant creatures known as Kaiju, which rise out of the sea and wreak havoc. To fight these monsters, humanity creates Jaegers, giant robots with unmatched weaponry and strength. But will these machines, and the pilots who control them, be able to stop the Kaiju from annihilating humankind?

Thinking of this film in terms of its action, my buddy David astutely described it as, “Voltron vs. Godzilla.” It was essentially giant robots fighting giant monsters (none of which, thankfully, were men in rubber suits). And even though the action was repetitive and overwhelming at times, the sequences provided enough thrills, bombast and suspense to keep the audience intrigued.

Where Director Guillermo Del Toro failed was in giving the audience a story and characters that they could relate to or care about on any kind of emotional level. That was disappointing, because he had the perfect plot device to do so (I’ll try to explain without giving too much of the plot away). It takes two people/pilots to operate those massive Jaegers and in order to do so, the pilots must sync up their minds, opening themselves up to one another’s memories, thoughts, etc. The hero of the film, Raleigh (played by Charlie Hunnam) is mentally scarred due to a terrifying event that took place the last time he piloted a Jaeger. His new co-pilot, Mako (played by the beautiful Rinko Kikuchi) is also scarred due to a past experience with a Jaeger and a Kaiju. Rather than taking the screen time to show these two building their relationship and leaning to trust each other in and outside of the Jaeger, Del Toro forced more fight sequences down the audience’s collective throats and included a ridiculous sub-plot involving a lame, comedic relief scientist (played with the utmost annoyance by Charlie Day) who was trying to figure out how the Kaiju could be stopped. As a result, the budding relationship/romance between Raleigh and Mako felt forced (as only Hollywood can do) and the ending of the film lacked the emotional punch that it could have had if the studio had spent less on CGI and more on a script.

Pacific Rim is a big, loud blast of a summer popcorn flick, it’s just too bad the story did not match all of that action.

GRADE: C

Horrible Bosses: Good for a few laughs

Nick, Dale and Kurt are all miserable at their jobs thanks in large part to their bosses. One night, after drinking heavily, they come up with a plan to eliminate them. They even go so far as to hire a murder consultant to help them go through with the evil deeds, but will they?

Taking its cue from the Alfred Hitchcock classic Strangers on a Train (or the Danny DeVito classic Throw Mama from the Train if you believe Dale), Horrible Bosses attempted to give the audience a comedic look at three guys trying to enact the ultimate scenario for those people that cannot stand their boss. Most of the laughs in the film were provided by those horrible bosses, which included Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell (who did not get nearly enough screen time as Kurt's cracked out boss Bobby) and Jennifer Aniston. Aniston in particular was hilarious as Dale's maneater of a boss Julia for the character was so unlike the "good girl" character she usually plays that every nasty comment that came out of her mouth (and trust me, there were a lot of them) was all the more shocking and funny. Jason Bateman and Charlie Day pitched in with some comedic gems of their own (Jason Sudeikis was just as slimy and unlikable as his boss Farrell) but the film failed to be anything more than a mean-spirited comedy with little to offer beyond its last gross-out gag or sexually charged line from Aniston.

This is not a bad thing, sometimes it's nice to just turn off one's mind and giggle at the insanity happening on screen but if you are looking for a comedy with layers and depth, Horrible Bosses is not the film for you.

Grade: C