Pacific Rim - 3D Review (Is it worth it?)

This is not a review about the movie but rather a review about the 3D. For a full rundown on the film I'd advise checking out the pages of your local film critic as they have far more experience in telling you why you should/shouldn't like the movie. I'm only qualified to tell you how effective the 3D was.

[Note: Providing you have seen the latest trailers for the movie, the following won't contain any real spoilers. If you have however been keeping yourself in the dark, skip to the end verdict.]


Worth watching? Hell yes!
Seriously, if you have any urge to go and see see it, do. This is one of the most audacious blockbusters in a very long time that actually doesn't rot your brain cells. It's this generations Independence Day, right down to the inspirational speech. Go and see it, sit back, and marvel as your brain witnesses spectacles that only a childlike version of you could ever hope to imagine.

But do you want your robots and monsters three-dimensional?


The Good

Once again, for a post-converted movie, this is a damn good-looking 3D movie. Long corridors have depth, the environments feel big and the robots and creatures look stunningly real - the amazing CGI helps, but the 3D aspect enhances every crack and fracture these large behemoths possess.

As always seems to be the case with 3D movies, the 100% CGI'd scenes always look the best and in this case it was the brief moments we have in the Rift. It feels expansive and alive and a little bit too authentic.

The actual scenes inside the robots Jagers were also damn good eye-candy and you could literally believe you were in those suits of metal fighting giant creatures from another dimension.

Otherwise the movie just plays as a perfect 3D experience should. Del Toro was very much against 3D initially however he changed his mind due to studio pressure but it seems he has made sure that the conversion was the best they could manage and it seems to have paid off in spades.


The Bad

Del Toro's initial grudge against 3D was that it's hard to incorporate it properly when you have objects the size of building parading around the screen with any comparisons to size being the smaller objects (cars, trees, boats) and so the perception of depth is somewhat lost. While for the most part these scenes look fine, you do feel that the 3D didn't exactly grab you the same way as the other scenes. I imagine seeing this on a bigger screen (IMAX) might actually eliminate this problem.

Also some of the fight scenes, due to quick editing and moving camera shots, can be hard to focus on. This isn't a massive problem as most of the big action scenes are wide-angle shots, but I'm nit-picking problems so I'll include it anyway.

Also the scenes underwater were not as impressive as I would have hoped and felt a bit flat. I kinda expected more floaty things to remind me I'm watching it in 3D.


The Verdict

This film needs to be seen in 3D. It's a shame, as it will only really work on a big screen, but it does look pretty damn near perfect. For current standards at least. The robots are alive and every moving part within the film just feels like its actually there in the cinema with you and not on a screen.

So yes, do conform to the Hollywood 3D tax and throw that extra £1.50 at them. It's seriously worth it.



I saw this on a standard screen but I've already booked for the IMAX version which I can only imagine will be that much more awesome in 3D.




A Little Extra

Got the latest 'The Wolverine' trailer in 3D and it looked pretty good too. Better than I expected to anyway.
It looks to be another decent conversion job. Maybe Hollywood is learning.