The other day, I was reading a review of Pain & Gain (I forget where, or I’d link to it), and it said something pretty interesting. Basically, if a “respected” director were to make a movie like Pain & Gain, everyone would be praising him or her for being bold, daring, brave, etc. Or at least that’s the contention, and it’s one that I don’t fully buy into. Speaking for myself, I don’t care who made Pain & Gain; I don’t respect artistic visions that use horrible tragedies to make money, and I especially don’t respect the ones that want you to laugh along with characters on-screen when their real-life counterparts tortured and murdered innocent people. How does this tie in to Pacific Rim? I went a bit off the rails talking about Bay’s latest un-masterpiece, but it’s the point about people having different reactions to a movie depending on who directed it that I want to address. Would people be as excited for Pacific Rim if Guillermo Del Toro wasn’t behind the camera? Click through for the trailer and why I’m not terribly impressed with what I’ve seen so far.
The point, though, is that I don’t care who directed Pacific Rim. It could be Guillermo Del Toro, Roland Emmerich, or Uwe Boll, and my reaction would be the same: Meh. The article I mentioned above is a bit on the cynical side and seems to think that people latch on to certain directors and won’t let go no matter what. That may be true for some, but I refuse to believe that more discerning and honest viewers would give a director a pass based on his previous work. Prometheus is a great example of another movie by a well-respected director that I just couldn’t get behind. I was stoked as all hell beforehand, but once I saw it, I was utterly disappointed. I don’t think I’ll be disappointed with Pacific Rim, since I’m pretty sure I have a handle on what to expect, but I’m still sad that Del Toro chose to do this instead of something more along the lines of Pan’s Labyrinth. I’m not saying I want all of his movies to be dark and/or depressing, but I like his work best when there are characters and themes worth investing my time in.
Why no, I’m not watching the PACIFIC RIM trailer over and over. What kind of lame person would spend their time doing that?— Shannon Hubbell (@brundlefly) May 2, 2013
Can’t get over the awesome visual of the giant robot carrying a tanker like a baseball bat in PACIFIC RIM.— Geoff LaTulippe (@DrGMLaTulippe) April 30, 2013
Urgh! Just watched the trailer for Pacific Rim. Now I feel like a teenage geek boy with a hard-on. 2,500 tonnes of awesome indeed!!— FilmBambina (@TheFilmBambina) April 30, 2013
–George Bell
moviefiednyc.com 
Yeah, Pacific Rim's not gonna be as great as Pan's Labyrinth, but I'm sure It'll be at least as good as the Hellboy movies, similarly silly but with a strong sense of character and maybe a few interesting themes to provide a bit of substance to the awesome style. Have you ever watched Evangelion? It's a robot anime, but it's also one of the most artistically daring thought-provoking examinations of mental illness and existentialism. I doubt Pacific Rim will be that deep, but it goes to show that you can do some amazing things with such a premise.
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