Story
Pacific Rim is set in the near future when gigantic creatures called Kaiju come out of an interdimensional portal in the floor of the Pacific Ocean. They destroy cities and kill millions of people. To fight these monsters, the people of the world band together and build giant combat robots called Jaegers. Jaegers must be operated by two pilots at the same time. The pilots’ minds are connected by a neural bridge.
Brothers Yancy and Raleigh Becket (Diego Klattenholf and Charlie Hunnam) are Jaeger pilots. At first Yancy and Raleigh can defeat the Kaiju, but when bigger and smarter Kaiju start appearing, the balance tips in favour of the Kaiju. Yancy is killed in battle and the brothers’ Jaeger is almost destroyed. Raleigh can’t cope with his brother’s death. He abandons his life as a Jaeger pilot and disappears.
Five years later humanity is about to be destroyed altogether. Raleigh’s old commanding officer, Marshal Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba), is determined to make one final stand. Raleigh was Pentecost’s finest Jaeger pilot, so Pentecost tracks down Raleigh. He pairs Raleigh up with rookie Jaeger copilot Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi). Mako has a personal vendetta against the Kaiju, who destroyed her entire family when she was a young girl.
As the final hour approaches, two research scientists, Dr Newton Geiszler (Charlie Day) and Gottieb (Burn Gorman), make a discovery that might give Raleigh and Mako one last chance.
Themes
World annihilation; alien creatures; loss of a family member
Violence
Pacific Rim shows frequent and prolonged sequences of intense science fiction action violence between alien monsters and human-operated robots. The violence results in mass destruction and death. The movie also has violence between humans. For example:
Sexual references
Pacific Rim contains some sexual innuendo. For example:
- A man is asked how his date with a girl went. He replies that the girl liked it but her boyfriend didn’t.
- A man selling black-market Kaiju organs makes a crude gesture to imply that Kaiju bone powder is a powerful aphrodisiac.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
This movie shows some use of substances. For example, in several scenes an army officer swallows a pill from a metal box after he suffers nosebleeds. We later learn that the nosebleeds are the result of radiation poisoning.
Nudity and sexual activity
This movie has some partial nudity and sexual activity. For example:
- A woman looks admiringly at a man’s naked chest. When the man looks at the woman, she gets flustered and walks away, but then she looks at the man through a peephole in her door.
- Both male and female pilots wear tight-fitting suits. A woman wears a tank top that shows bare shoulders and cleavage.
Product placement
There is no product placement of concern in the movie itself, but toys and other merchandise associated with the movie are being marketed to children.
Coarse language
This movie has medium-level coarse language and name-calling.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Pacific Rim is a science fiction action adventure directed by Guillermo Del Toro, who directed Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth.
The movie’s action and special effects are likely to entertain teenagers, but might also appeal to younger children, especially those who have seen the associated toys. But you should be aware that the movie’s M rating is deserved. It’s definitely not recommended for children under 13 years because of its violent and disturbing scenes, which involve destruction and intense battles between scary monsters and giant robots. We recommend parental guidance for children up to 15 years, because younger teenagers might also be disturbed by some scenes.
The main message from this movie is that people working together, especially on a global scale, can triumph over almost any odds. Many of the humans show bravery, perseverance and self-sacrifice.
If you have older children, you could talk with them about what the movie teaches us about fighting the real threats to our world such as natural disasters, wars, famine or large-scale terrorist attacks.