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CinemaSins Movie Reviews
Giant robots. Fighting giant monsters. What more do you need to know?
Nothing, actually. They had me at giant robots…
Spider Jerusalem and I have been VIBRATING with excitement all summer over this one. Every time either of us saw a trailer we’d send it to the other, and we kept looking at the release date and grinning like idiots. We have a standing date for any movie we want to see, to go on the Monday night after it opens to avoid the crowds, and for this one we went to the big expensive cineplex (TWELVE DOLLARS OH MY GOD) to see it on the big screen. Soccer Sam joined us just as the lights were getting low. And it started.
Now, my expectations were low. I know that having a huge special effects budget not only does NOT guarantee a huge ‘good plot’ budget, it might even be an inverse proportion…so I was really there for the ‘robot vs monster’ action.
Although, knowing that Guillermo del Toro co-wrote and directed it…a tiny part of me had a tiny tiny shred of hope for something good…
And I am happy to say that it was, amazingly enough, pretty good.
Sure, the special effects were great. Giant robots fighting giant monsters, remember? lovely. Big and loud and destructive, even if the human shape of the robots was amazingly inefficient and should be fragile as hell. But that’s okay, they looked awesome.
Yes, there were some places I had to scratch my head and say, Huh? …like if the monsters are clones, why is one of them having a live birth? because it advances the plot, of course.
But then the robots and monsters would start fighting, or some plot point would go whizzing by and totally distract me.
The characters were good, some over-the-top, some just what you’d expect, but all enjoyable. My fav was Idris Elba, who totally stole the show.
It was really really fun, and I enjoyed it. Without really expecting to. So thank you, Mr. Del Toro. The Otter appreciates your talent and attention to tiny details like good plotting and characters. I can’t wait for your next movie…I’ll be there, popcorn in hand.
theotterlimits 