Guillermo del Toro's "Pacific Rim" is slated for release in less than a month and the reactions are slowly arriving.
Publication Movie Hole recently previewed the first 15 minutes of the highly anticipated film and revealed its opinions on the film so far. Writer Mandy Griffiths noted that she was unimpressed by the film's original trailer and had subdued expectations heading into the screening. However, she was ultimately floored by the result.
"I came into this screening prepared to be unimpressed, but it had very much the opposite effect. Sure this film needed 'Transformers' to come before it, as that franchise has paved the way for many like it, but unlike 'Transformers' you can follow the action, it doesn't chop around to create motion sickness, they have attempted to create characters you can care about, and if you could ever describe robots and aliens as graceful in battle, this is probably it," Griffiths wrote. "It seems like they actually have a story to tell here and whether or not they can sustain this quality over an entire film is still open to judgment, but I'm excited to see more."
Griffiths notes that the film starts off by explaining the history behind a previous Kaiju alien invasion and its eventual annihilation by the world's defenses. Then the viewer is shown the world leaders' decision to create giant robots as its line of defense before catapulting into the story of the film. The writer indicates that the back story is revealed in the film's opening five minutes.
Aside from Movie Hole, Boxoffice.com screened the movie and expressed excitement. "Saw this recently. Action, visuals were awesome...monster versus robot fighting was quite the spectacle (though unfortunately the last big scene wasn't as good as the one before it). Otherwise this quote is right...characters were uninteresting and so was the story. Watch for the action, that delivers pretty well... It's got creativity in its design and style though more than some other blockbusters, but heart? Naa," wrote the publication. "Yeah, the movie is still fun. I mean, it's still giant robots fighting giant monsters. If that's what you want to see...that's what you'll get. And it delivers on that front."
Armann2000 also so the film and added, "For what it's worth, I went to a screening yesterday, and loved it. I haven't read the script yet, so I don't know how much has changed, but the action was absolutely incredible, and the greatest strength of the film was the pacing. There was never a dull moment, and aside from maybe two strange moments in the film, it was very fluid and enjoyable. There were a fair amount of cliche lines, Charlie Hunnam was so-so (my friends thought he was terrible, so maybe I was just easier on him), and Charlie Day was awesome as always. It's a big crowd movie. The big WOW moments play really well, and are extremely satisfying."
"Pacific Rim" hits theaters on July 12, 2013. It stars Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Ron Perlman, and Charlie Day.