Robot wars writ large

SUITED AND BOOTED Charlie Hunnam stars in 'Pacific Rim'.Robot wars writ large CinemaDaniel CareyTHE 2011 Hugh Jackman movie 'Real Steel' - set in 2020 - imagines a world where human boxers have been replaced by robots. In 'Pacific Rim', the new blockbuster from Guillermo del Toro, 2020 is a far more grim time than that imagined by 'Real Steel', but fighting robots are also ever-present, if in decline.'Pacific Rim' paints a picture of a world seven years since dinosaur-like monsters called Kaiju arose from the sea and began destroying cities across the globe. The human response took the form of the Jaeger programme - giant robots, each one run by two human pilots working in sync.After a prologue detailing the history of the war, we learn that the Jaeger programme is on its last legs. Governments are now opting for a strategy of building giant walls, and the few remaining robots have been shipped to Hong Kong. "We're not an army anymore," explains one man who has been given a short time-frame in which to save the day. "We're the resistance."That man - who glories in the name Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba from 'The Wire', playing a role for which Tom Cruise was considered) - has a plan to take the fight to the sea monsters and detonate a nuclear warhead. For this, he recruits former colleague Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam), one of the few surviving Jaeger pilots, as part of a multi-national task force. There's an odd-couple scientific duo, father-and-son Aussies named Hansen, and a rookie Asian woman Mako Mori (Japanse actress Rinko Kikuchi) with a traumatic past. A war clock counts down to the next attack.There is, inevitably, a 'Top Gun' vibe to some of the proceedings. "I don't think you're the right man for this mission," the younger Australian tells Becket, later branding him 'a has-been'. Martial arts exhibitions are held to select a co-pilot for Becket, while one of the scientists tries a mind-meld with a sea monster and goes in search of a secondary brain (I'm not making this up).There's a lot going on, and the back story is well laid out. At times, it feels like we're engaged in the big-screen equivalent of chess boxing - the hybrid sport combing chess with boxing in alternating rounds - as high concepts mix with crash-bang-wallop battles. Not surprisingly, a sequel is in the offing.'Pacific Rim' is better than I expected. Much of the credit for this can go to Del Toro, the man behind 'Pan's Labyrinth' and 'Hellboy', who co-wrote the screenplay with Travis Beacham. The world inhabited by the characters is well imagined and visually captured. Cars get used as weapons. Amid the destruction of an office, an excecutive toy is set off by the mayhem. The monsters' tongues evoke the magic realism which the director is so fond of. Del Toro regular Ron Perlman enjoys himself as a black marketeer who meets a sticky end. And Pentecost's line 'Today, we are cancelling the apocalypse!' definitely tops Bill Pullman's corny 'Independence Day' call to arms.And yet, the action sequences - so popular with fans of 'Robot Wars' and, perhaps, exhilarating if you're in the mood for them - left me cold for the most part. The first time you see a robot versus monster battle, it's diverting enough. By the end, it gets tiresome. The fights are drowning in CGI, the dialogue is ho-hum, and one is left wondering why the Mexican didn't use his considerable gifts on a more worthwhile project.But as these kind of things go, you'll see worse than 'Pacific Rim'.Rating 6 out of 10

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