In the near future, a portal to another dimension is opened in the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean and from it come massive monsters called kaiju (Japanese for monster). Mankind quickly develops a defence in the form of jaegers (German for warrior), giant robots that are piloted by two people who share a neural link with the onboard computer. Although initially successful, the program begins to fail and in an all out effort to destroy the portal, mankind decides to drop a nuclear weapon into it.
The action is visually impressive. Although Guillermo Del Toro usually uses practical effects, he instead opted for CGI as this film is on such a huge scale. The fights between the jaegers and kaiju look really cool and this film is a definite homage to the early Godzilla flicks, mainly Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla (one of the best in the series).
Del Toro is also renowned for creating rich and diverse worlds, especially in both Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth. It is enjoyable to see kaiju body parts being sold on the black market and that whole area of the underworld seems to be a trademark of his.
Most of the cast is pretty ordinary, but the saving grace of the film is Charlie Day (It's Always Sunny). I know I seem to go on about him a lot, but he genuinely is a fantastic actor. He plays a doctor researching the kaiju and he has a manic enthusiasm about the monsters. It got to one stage in the film where I was just waiting for the next scene with him in it.
Overall, the story is pretty predictable and the films two hour run time was a bit too long for me. There is a lengthy introduction to world in which the characters live, which was cool, but once the plot started proper, the film went downhill fast.
Verdict: I feel as though Del Toro has let down his fanbase with this film. I am used to seeing more ambitious smaller films from him and felt as though this film was too big for him to grasp. The majority of my points go to his use of Charlie Day.
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