We’ve seen people fight aliens, aliens fight monsters, robots fight people, and just about every other combination imaginable. But somehow, even a tale as traditional as people and robots fighting alien monsters seems unique when handled by the creative mind of Guillermo del Toro. The director took his forthcoming sci-fi adventure Pacific Rim to this year’s Comic-Con, debuting some of the first footage of the film, which stars Charlie Humman, Idris Elba, Ron Perlman, and Charlie Day. All parties involved, and some spectacular imagery, made what could have been a tired premise into a unique, innovative, and most of all exciting new cinematic prospect.
The footage opens with a snowscape, two men scanning the ice with a metal detector. They find something and begin chipping away at the ice. The metal detector starting going wild, and as the Tron Legacy-esque music kicks in, the camera pans up, a giant robot is revealed. Pulp, ’20s style head, swirling fan chest, big clobbering arms. The robot takes a step forward before falling down. Reminiscent of the Prometheus money shot, with a bot instead of a spaceship. Except, this is far from the money shot of Pacific Rim.
A title card: “We created monsters.” The reel cuts to shots of a monster with giant claws destroying gold en gate bridge. Massive claws ripping away at the structure while fighter jets try to shoot it down. Cutting back to the Pacific Rim base, soldiers suit up in the crazy, colorful base, preparing to man giant robots. Strapping on futuristic white battle suits (Mac?), the robot squad steps inside the mech to operate together. It takes two people to man the bot, which mimics there movements.
From there, it’s all robot on monster action. Multiple robots are carried into the ocean with helicopters, dropped in to fight a long-nosed, snarling beast. Back at the base, Idris Elba delivers a Braveheart speech: “we’re canceling the apocalypse.” Badass. Cutting back to the robot/monster battle, the trailer provides the ultimate finishing move. With a swift set of fists, the robot smashes the head of the horned kaiju (a Japanese term for the monsters). Tons and tons of carnage. But this is only one robot and one monster. According to Del Toro, there are nine robots and six monsters in total. Assume lots of s**t will be destroyed.
Follow Matt Patches on Twitter @misterpatches
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[Photo Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures]
