‘Pacific Rim’: Early Reviews Are Mostly Positive
The early reviews for Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim appear to be mostly positive. Will this be enough to lure curious moviegoers into theaters this weekend?
The Hellboy director’s latest big-budget spectacle reportedly cost Warner Bros. upwards of $200 million. Since Disney’s The Lone Ranger crashed and burned at the box office last week, many insiders are curious to see how this endeavor will play out in theaters.
Judging from some of the early reviews posted at Rotten Tomatoes, Pacific Rim is an enjoyable albeit flawed cinematic experience. If audiences can allow themselves to see the forest for the trees, del Toro’s effort shouldn’t cause them very much irritation.
The Hollywood Reporter, the Daily Star, and Movies.com all gave Guillermo del Toro’s action flick high marks. Jordan Hoffman over at Film.com compared the director’s recent effort to the work of much-maligned director Michael Bay.
“They don’t let 14-year-old boys direct multi-million dollar feature films, but somehow Guillermo Del Toro has channeled the interests, attitudes and fears from that mindset with a clarity that far surpasses contemporaries like Michael Bay,” Hoffman wrote in his review.
While the majority of these write-ups were overwhelmingly positive, not everyone was dazzled with the director’s robots vs. monsters movie. The Wrap critic Alonso Duralde wasn’t entirely impressed with the way some of the set pieces unfolded onscreen.
“Whenever the jaegers and the kaiju throw down in ‘Pacific Rim,’ it’s at night in the pouring rain — unless they’re both at the bottom of the ocean. What’s the point, exactly, of cutting-edge CG monsters filmed in a way where we can barely see them?” he explained.
Justin Chang at Variety was also a little disappointed with del Toro’s recent outing. According to him, the filmmaker’s action flick isn’t exactly subtle.
“The squarest, clunkiest and certainly loudest movie of director Guillermo del Toro’s career, a crushed-metal orgy that plays like an extended 3D episode of “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” on very expensive acid,” Chang wrote in his review.
For better or worse, Pacific Rim will land in theaters across North America on July 12. Are you looking forward to Guillermo del Toro’s latest?
[Images via Warner Bros. / Legendary Pictures]
