Atlantic Rim.

Since I rarely do reviews any more I may as well make every review I do something worthwhile and considering this del Toro picture is out right now, what better? Wait, that is Pacific Rim? Oh...
Just joking, I knew what I was doing! Well, within my own terms... I went into length about the Asylum in my Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies review so if you're interested check that out. But yes, we come again to an Asylum mockbuster. I guess the real question is, was it a pleasant surprise like vs. Zombies or everything that everyone expected it to be? Well...

Atlantic Rim tells the deliberately corny and ridiculously badass story of a search and rescue mission for a missing oil rig that explodes into an all out mech and monster brawl, with the beautiful people of the East Coast of America in direct danger. And just when it seems like the day is won, we find out that it is just beginning... Oh and of course, with two men and one woman there is a love triangle, gotta have one of them these days!

Just getting right into it, if good characters are integral to your enjoyment of a film, then you will not like this film at all. Our central three protagonists are all unlikeable in their own way, their characters aren't explored in any sense and not only do we never learn anything about them, they never even grow either despite character arcs being established as they just get dropped. At least for the most part the acting is pretty good, this is helped by having the acting talents of Graham Greene playing an old fashioned, grumpy and completely badass Admiral.

It doesn't help that the pacing is terrible. I won't complain about a film moving swiftly but it manages to find that surreal Twilight pacing where nothing is really happening but it all feels like it's going by too fast anyway. Almost as if the more important a moment, the less time it actually gets to spend on screen. I guess they wanted to draw the non plot related and non special effects sequences out for all they're worth to cut down costs, maybe it worked for that purpose but not so much in a viewing sense, especially as the film does nothing to make us care about the characters.

Also, although the dialogue functions fine in the action and jokes, it's pretty terrible elsewhere. The tender, softer moments are laughable and I'm pretty sure that is not intentional and whenever it comes to exposition it's about as subtle as a steel toe cap to the nuts. It's very clunky and with the bad pacing as well there are quite a few moments that really pull you right out of the film.

It's a shame as well because from a narrative standpoint this is actually surprisingly good, the film seems to recognise how stupid this genre is but approaches all the clichés with such passion and gusto it's just awesome. I mean don't get me wrong it isn't a parody or anything, but films like this can't be played too straight, it just doesn't work and by recognising and having fun with all the clichés of the genre both allows the film to function but also makes it a lot of fun to watch as well.

I guess the most important question that you want answering though, is how good is the action? I mean that is why we're here right? Giant robots and giant monsters! And well considering Japan are still happy with rubber suits and cardboard Tokyo, in comparison the CGI on display here really isn't that bad, even if it is obviously artificial. That said, I guess to cut down on costs, there are more shots of the mech interiors than there are of the exteriors with a lot of the action centring around the pilots themselves and their reactions to what is happening. It's well constructed enough to be still be good and intense but I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more robots punching monsters.

Also, that isn't to say there aren't some cool attacks, weapons, gadgets, special moves and so on but obviously as Power Rangers translates mech battles to dudes in cardboard fighting on a model trainset, it gives a freedom of movement and an excess of cash that a low budget film just cannot replicate with CGI. So I guess the question is quality or quantity, because I'd honestly say the quality is better here there is just less of it, a lot less.

What certainly is in the films favour is it goes places that Power Rangers never could as well. In many senses the battle isn't the main course, it's the aftermath as buildings lay toppled and burning and bodies litter the streets, leaving the protagonists to revel in their victory while the side characters contemplate the horror of the cost. Oh what you expect the protagonists to care about the dead? The token black one does, but don't expect anything like that from the others. I told you, the central three are dicks.

It's a cold harsh reality of what it'd really be like if two titans had a brawl in a city. It may take the fun out of it a little but what it removes in fun it adds in respect because it's clear that the film is taking this aspect very seriously. I know that won't be for everyone, and I can perfectly understand why, but I appreciated it all the same. And I mean all this on the level the film is at, don't take away from this that this is some kind of deep, meaningful anti-war film, it's still about as deep as a sheet of paper but there is certainly more care and effort gone into this than your usual Z-Grade cinema fare.

Sadly really the main thing that lets down the effects and action is the piss poor editing, I don't know whether they got the effects shots after they'd edited the rest of the film and just left gaps to throw them in without actually seeing them or what but there are quite a few times where the action we're seeing doesn't match up to what the actor is claiming to be experiencing, same with a lot of the phonecalls where actors either respond in an odd fashion that doesn't really fit or leave too long or too little a pause, there is also some absolutely awful integration of stock and archive footage as well and especially in the final third of the film there are continuity errors galore, it's like the editing gets worse as you go in, becoming sloppier and sloppier with less effort put in with every minute. Even the crucial shots of the dead in the streets which is paused and contemplated on by the camera, is sloppily constructed as dead bodies and destruction seems to pop up in completely random places that geographically makes no sense with where the monster is placed and where everyone else is moving. I can only assume that a majority of these people were killed not by monsters but by all the people blindingly firing into the air.

So do I recommend it? Overall Atlantic Rim is not a good film but I also think that for brief moments it transcends beyond its own inherent limitations and does something great. If you can appreciate low budget films with unlikeable characters then I think Atlantic Rim isn't without something to offer but I certainly don't recommend this in the general sense. Disappointing, honestly.

Think About It!

-Locke.

What would you rate, 'Atlantic Rim'?