Review: Pacific Rim
Imagine a tank. Now imagine that tank is shaped like a human being. Now imagine that tank is as tall as a skyscraper, and it’s used to beat down giant monsters in the kind of fights that shake the streets, shatter buildings and use oceanliners as baseball bats. That is Pacific Rim, the ultimate ode to giant robots and monster movies of old. And considering my childhood love of the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, and my own desire to someday pilot a Megazord, I was definitely looking forward to Pacific Rim – and I was not disappointed.
Pacific Rim is the kind of summer spectacle movie that people should be lining up to see. It’s the kind of movie that demands a bigger IMAX screen, because the action is both huge and hugely entertaining. The human characters could have used a little more fleshing out, but the size and scope of the film do not disappoint.
Movie Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.
Sadly, the Adam Sandler film Grown Ups 2 somehow captivated audiences more this past weekend than Pacific Rim. This is the world we live in. A crappy, crummy, by-the-numbers, lazy Sandler fart-joke-fest made more money than an original, high-octane movie about giant robots fighting giant monsters. Do I need to repeat that? Giant robots fighting giant monsters. In big, bombastic slugfests! It’s the Megazord fighting Godzilla! It’s every childhood joy of mine coming to fun, exciting life on the big screen. What more could humanity possibly want from its movies?
That little children around the world aren’t bugging their parents for Gipsy Danger toys right now is a crime against humanity.
Take it from a big geek like me, the robot/monster fights in Pacific Rim are exactly what we hoped they would be – though they almost all take place at night…in the rain…and while standing waist-deep in the water. I guess sometimes filmmakers have to do what they can to hide the CGI. But I won’t hold it against them. The fights are big, brutal and highly entertaining. And unlike Man of Steel, the CGI was not just a big mess of explosions and mindless destruction. These were unique, cool-looking beings, and their actions were easy to follow and understand. Pacific Rim is big CGI done right.
If only the human characters were as awesome as the giant, asskicking robots.
Join me after the jump for my full review of Pacific Rim. And beware, there will be some SPOILERS.
The 6 Characters on My Avengers Team
San Diego Comic-Con is this weekend, and to celebrate, I’ve put together a List of Six that may be one of the purest forms of comic book geekery: what is my ideal Avengers lineup? What is my dream team? We’ve played this game several times before with the Sinister Six and X-Force, well now I’m setting my sights on the big guys. The game is simple, and as a comic book geek, I think it’s fantastically fun: if I were hired to write an Avengers comic, and had free reign over what characters to put on the team, who would I pick? Who would you pick?
The Avengers are very different from the Justice League over at DC Comics. I could never do one of these lists for the Justice League, because my ideal lineup for that team is the same as everybody else: use the top 7 classic Justice Leaguers: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter. That’s the perfect Justice League, hands down. No need to debate. But the Avengers are very different. The Avengers are not just made up of the top superheroes over at Marvel. The Avengers are their own little family of superheroes, known more for being Avengers than for being solo heroes. And if I were to make a team of Avengers, I definitely wouldn’t put popular characters like Spider-Man or Wolverine on the team just because they sell.
I have my own ideas. And I’m sure you have yours. Join me after the jump for the characters I would put on my Avengers team. And please share your own ideal lineup in the comments!
How Man of Steel Should Have Ended
I expected to see a lot more Internet videos mocking Man of Steel by this point.
Fortunately, the How It Should Have Ended team is picking up the slack with a fun video poking at a major plot hole. It’s good for a few laughs, and those cats are definitely spot on. But then there are a ton of plot holes in Man of Steel. I demand more funny videos mocking Man of Steel!
New from Natasha Allegri: Bee and Puppycat
Natasha Allegri, character designer and storyboard artist for Adventure Time, brings us this clip from her new cartoon series, “Bee and Puppycat.” And it’s amazing.
Looks Like I’ll Be Buying a New Harley Quinn Comic Series
Like the gravitational pull of a black hole, the closer we get to this weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con, the faster comic book news is going to be coming out. One of the first new series to be announced is a new Harley Quinn solo series, written by Jimmy Palmiotti and his wife Amanda Conner, who is probably the best comic book artist in the business today.
Why she isn’t automatically drawing this series, I do not know. But at least she’s drawn the first cover!
The classic costume is sorely missed
I’ve always been lukewarm towards Harley Quinn, but I am red hot towards Amanda Conner, and her husband. They were the creative team that kicked off the Power Girl series before the reboot, and that was a lot of fun. So I’m excited to see what they can do with Harley Quinn…and I hope Conner draws the book. I mean, come on!
The series was announced at Comic Book Resources, which also had an interview with the pair:
Palmiotti: She is the hero in her own story. What happens, who gets killed, what house gets burned down and so on, well, thats just part of her story. She looks at the world differently and we will be building on that and looking even closer on her past and what makes her tick. There are so many layers to this fantastic character that we cannot wait to explore.
Conner: Like Jimmy always says; A villain almost never believes that they are the bad guy. They usually think that they’re doing something for the greater good, or that they’re downtrodden and trying to overcome their repressors, or more than likely, they just want something.
So what do you guys and gals think? Does this series sound like something you want to read? Do you still like Harley Quinn in the New 52 universe? Sound off in the comments!
Henchman-4-Hire 