The setting is is the not too distant future, around 2018 is when the Kaijus (they come from an mystic portal located in the Pacific Ocean) start arriving. Shortly after a unified Earth develops a plan to combat these monsters by using Jaegers, giant mecha controlled by human pilots who have a neural bridge (which is essentially the 2 pilots being "in tune" with each other so they can pilot the mecha, it's a long story and it's science fiction). So you have some giant robots that have cool sounding names and look like this...
As time goes by, the Kaiju are getting bigger, attacks more frequent and the Jaegers start to wear down on account the Kaiju can dish out some punishment of their own. It's 2025 and we are in the 7th year of the Kaiju War. The Jaeger program's funding is cut and the leaders of Earth have decided to go with giant coastal walls to protect the areas (a zinger towards the Republicans who feel a wall will deter illegal immigrants, see the correlation?). Soon enough a Kaiju attack tears through a coastal wall like tissue paper (couldn't see that coming). So the 4 remaining Jaegers are redeployed to Hong Kong in a last ditch effort to defeat the Kaiju once and for all by sealing the portal. Oh by the way, sealing the portal involves a thermonuclear device and possible suicide mission. A multi-Kaiju attack takes place, there's a heroic last stand and the portal is sealed! Hoo-ray human race!
Director Guillermo del Toro is talented for sure, the special effects are great and I thought the fight scenes with the Kaiju and Jaegers were pretty awesome but this isn't his best work. There's very little originality in the film and the characters are cliches from other films. It can be said that the film was an homage to tokusatsu films but when does an homage become a rip-off? Take a look at this particular kaiju...
Now take a look at Guiron, a foe of Gamera.
Do there seem to be a lot of similarities? Granted Guiron's head is as sharp as Rambo's k-bar knife and he can shoot throwing stars from his head (which is a pretty awesome power to have and makes him way more cool), check out this clip at the 55 second mark...
Anyone who has watched anime in the past will immediately see strong resemblances between the Jaegers and say Gundam Wing.
Then there are the characters, as mentioned above, they're all cliches from other films with studly sounding names like:
Raleigh Beckett is the hero but he's essentially Maverick from Top Gun in a sense that he's got a cool sounding name (Raleigh Beckett v. Pete Mitchell), he's a hot shot pilot who plays by his own rules, his partner/friend/brother dies, he feels responsible for his death (his brother Yancy v. "Goose") and he gets a chance to redeem himself and saves the day (Kaiju v. Russian MIGs).
Staying with the Top Gun theme, let me introduce Chuck Hansen, son of Herc. Chuck is the Iceman to Beckett's Maverick. He's got a huge ego and is always giving Raleigh a hard time. During the final battle, he, along with Pentecost, willingly sacrifices himself so that Raleigh can get another chance to complete the mission. Before he goes he let's Raleigh know what a swell guy he is and that he's sorry for being a jerk.
Then there's the scientists, Gottlieb and Geiszler. Gottlieb is British and refers to Geiszler as a kaiju fanboy who's science isn't of any use to the cause. Geiszler does develop a way to form a neural bridge with a portion of a damaged kaiju brain. From this bridge he learns a few things about the kaiju that no one ever knew. The problem I have is that Dr. Geiszler is payed by Charlie Kelly from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. That's exactly who I want on the science team charged with finding a way to end a war with giant monsters.
To his credit, by bridging with a portion of a kaiju brain he was able to find out that the kaiju are clones and they are being sent to Earth to clear the way so that they can consume Earth's natural resources. Sound familiar? Kind of sounds a lot like Independence Day doesn't it. During a kaiju attack on Hong Kong, the kaiju is defeated but it ends up giving birth! Why would clones need to procreate you ask? So Charlie can neural bridge with a complete brain of a kaiju (which would also answer the question as to why would kaiju give birth to live young and not lay eggs like in Godzilla).
There are some other plot points that are a bit ridiculous and/or used before, for example , during the battle for Hong Kong a kaiju releases an electromagnetic pulse that disables Stryker Eureka and it enables Beckett and Mori to fire up Gipsy Danger on account it's on the old analog system. Very similar to when Maverick had to go into battle with the MIGs despite the fact that Stinger didn't want to send Mav out. There's also a scene where they show Kaiju and Jaeger toys which is ironic because of the massive merchandise potential this film has (as do most films like this). Wait until it comes out on Red Box of even cable.
As time goes by, the Kaiju are getting bigger, attacks more frequent and the Jaegers start to wear down on account the Kaiju can dish out some punishment of their own. It's 2025 and we are in the 7th year of the Kaiju War. The Jaeger program's funding is cut and the leaders of Earth have decided to go with giant coastal walls to protect the areas (a zinger towards the Republicans who feel a wall will deter illegal immigrants, see the correlation?). Soon enough a Kaiju attack tears through a coastal wall like tissue paper (couldn't see that coming). So the 4 remaining Jaegers are redeployed to Hong Kong in a last ditch effort to defeat the Kaiju once and for all by sealing the portal. Oh by the way, sealing the portal involves a thermonuclear device and possible suicide mission. A multi-Kaiju attack takes place, there's a heroic last stand and the portal is sealed! Hoo-ray human race!
Director Guillermo del Toro is talented for sure, the special effects are great and I thought the fight scenes with the Kaiju and Jaegers were pretty awesome but this isn't his best work. There's very little originality in the film and the characters are cliches from other films. It can be said that the film was an homage to tokusatsu films but when does an homage become a rip-off? Take a look at this particular kaiju...
Now take a look at Guiron, a foe of Gamera.
Do there seem to be a lot of similarities? Granted Guiron's head is as sharp as Rambo's k-bar knife and he can shoot throwing stars from his head (which is a pretty awesome power to have and makes him way more cool), check out this clip at the 55 second mark...
Anyone who has watched anime in the past will immediately see strong resemblances between the Jaegers and say Gundam Wing.
Then there are the characters, as mentioned above, they're all cliches from other films with studly sounding names like:
- Stacker Pentecost
- Raleigh Beckett
- Yancy Beckett
- Herc Hansen
- Chuck Hansen
- Hannibal Chau
- Mako Mori (hot Asian chick with awesome kung-fu skills alert!)
- Dr. Newton Gieszler
Raleigh Beckett is the hero but he's essentially Maverick from Top Gun in a sense that he's got a cool sounding name (Raleigh Beckett v. Pete Mitchell), he's a hot shot pilot who plays by his own rules, his partner/friend/brother dies, he feels responsible for his death (his brother Yancy v. "Goose") and he gets a chance to redeem himself and saves the day (Kaiju v. Russian MIGs).
Staying with the Top Gun theme, let me introduce Chuck Hansen, son of Herc. Chuck is the Iceman to Beckett's Maverick. He's got a huge ego and is always giving Raleigh a hard time. During the final battle, he, along with Pentecost, willingly sacrifices himself so that Raleigh can get another chance to complete the mission. Before he goes he let's Raleigh know what a swell guy he is and that he's sorry for being a jerk.
Then there's the scientists, Gottlieb and Geiszler. Gottlieb is British and refers to Geiszler as a kaiju fanboy who's science isn't of any use to the cause. Geiszler does develop a way to form a neural bridge with a portion of a damaged kaiju brain. From this bridge he learns a few things about the kaiju that no one ever knew. The problem I have is that Dr. Geiszler is payed by Charlie Kelly from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. That's exactly who I want on the science team charged with finding a way to end a war with giant monsters.
To his credit, by bridging with a portion of a kaiju brain he was able to find out that the kaiju are clones and they are being sent to Earth to clear the way so that they can consume Earth's natural resources. Sound familiar? Kind of sounds a lot like Independence Day doesn't it. During a kaiju attack on Hong Kong, the kaiju is defeated but it ends up giving birth! Why would clones need to procreate you ask? So Charlie can neural bridge with a complete brain of a kaiju (which would also answer the question as to why would kaiju give birth to live young and not lay eggs like in Godzilla).
There are some other plot points that are a bit ridiculous and/or used before, for example , during the battle for Hong Kong a kaiju releases an electromagnetic pulse that disables Stryker Eureka and it enables Beckett and Mori to fire up Gipsy Danger on account it's on the old analog system. Very similar to when Maverick had to go into battle with the MIGs despite the fact that Stinger didn't want to send Mav out. There's also a scene where they show Kaiju and Jaeger toys which is ironic because of the massive merchandise potential this film has (as do most films like this). Wait until it comes out on Red Box of even cable.
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