[Den-O]

Just saw it earlier this afternoon and my thoughts are almost nothing but positive. The only real "problem" with the film and this could have just been my theater, is that the narration at the beginning and quite a bit of the dialogue throughout was inaudible. It's someone turned the vocals down and everything else up.

The movie itself however? Brilliant. Del Toro and his team have crafted an incredible universe for these characters to inhabit. It really feels like the ultimate nitty gritty version of Gundam/Eva/Macross/Sentai/Other mecha shows grounded into a harsh reality. The technology is strong but archaic compared to what we've come to expect from our usual mechanized heroes, which makes it all the more believable.

The bit about the dinosaurs having been even more primitive Kaiju was a stroke of awesome as well. Showing us that our world has been visited in this way more than once, now it's just more easily inhabitable. The creatures/aliens in the other universe/dimension were measly when compared to the beasts they could create but often times those with great power to wield have none of their own. The Kaiju were a bit generic but they served their purpose well.

The characters mostly sold me as well. Mako, Raleigh, and Stacker for sure. While the Aussie team felt to be forced stereotypes I did love the Striker Eureka and their dog mascot However let it be said that Ron Pearlman and Charlie Day added absolutely nothing to this film. Literally anyone could have played those roles. Charlier Day especially was just someone saying lines, I didn't believe he was who he was supposed to be. By the main trio of characters were rich and deep. And while the mecha designs were a bit strange they were fun and very grounded in reality. They were sensible, not over the top. Just as I would expect them to be if something like this actually happened.

Miss Kikuchi's performance was probably my favorite. It was fantastic to see an actual native Japanese speaker play a major role in a summer blockbuster type film. And it's always great to see more strong female leads. She did a great job of selling me on Mako, especially with the ties to Stacker that she had as a child.

Overall I have to say that the movie totally sold me on it's premise and characters. I know that it's $40 million opening weekend may leave the sequel in question but I'd love to see another film. Though after detonating the Danger on the other side I really don't see where it could go from here as far as sequels go. Though they could set it further in the future.