9. The Drift Drifts In And Out Of The Story
Outside of the robots, monsters, and Ron Perlman's shoes, the concept of the Drift is the most fascinating thing about Pacific Rim. In order to operate a Jaegar, two pilots must telepathically link their minds, which is called the Drift. Imagine this: you are mentally linked with someone, sharing every thought and feeling and memory you've ever had. A few moments later, you have to go fight a giant monster while worrying about how your partner now knows what you were up to as a teenager with all those recreational visits to the bathroom. Scary stuff - and I'm not talking about the giant monsters. The Drift is rarely used to its full effect - especially in building the relationship between Raleigh and Mako. When the characters first link together, we get a flash of each of their memories... and that's about it. Raliegh and Mako feel very independent from the other when piloting their Jaegar, when their actions and feelings should constantly affect the other. Late in the movie, Raleigh tells Mako of his experience of still being mentally connected to his brother as he took an all expenses paid trip through a kaiju's GI tract. Not a bad idea, but it's all tell and no show. Del Toro should have shown us what Raleigh experiences when his brother died, instead of Raleigh just doing the traditional "NNNOOOOOO!!!!" Much of the film hangs on whether Raleigh and Mako can become effective Drift partners. Both characters have had their fair share of trauma - and either person could create a feedback loop of pain and anger that would cause both of them permanent damage. We get a moment where this happens - when Raleigh tours through Mako's most painful memories. It's easily the most terrifying and involving scene in the film - del Toro at his finest - but it's an arc that never goes anywhere. Once you've experienced the Drift, there's nothing left to say to your partner. That's a double-edged sword for the movie. In the case of the supporting characters, it's surprisingly effective - like when a young pilot leaves for a suicide mission and has to say goodbye to his father. They realize they don't need to say anything to each other - they've already said it all in the Drift. Mako and Raleigh may not need to say anything to each other, but audiences need them to in order to keep caring about them.