ATLANTIC RIM

An oil platform located in the Gulf of Mexico is attacked by a monstrous creature and sunk, dragging hundreds of people into the ocean. From the Pentagon, General Hadley decides to follow the advice of Dr. Adams and promotes the Armada Program, which involves the use of three giant robots, guided by as many pilots, to descend into the ocean depths, recover the wreckage of the platform, and verify what really happened. At the helm of the three robots are called the undisciplined Red, the attractive Tracey, and Lieutenant Jim Rushing. Soon, the three pilots will realize that they are dealing with prehistoric sea monsters, ready to push towards the city of New York. The infamous Asylum, a production company specializing in mockbusters (fake blockbusters) for TV and home video, churns out yet another carbon copy in extra small size of one of the most anticipated (and successful) films of 2013, Guillermo Del Toro's "Pacific Rim." And how could those geniuses at Asylum have titled their film if not "Atlantic Rim"? That the film was also released with the alternative titles "Attack from Beneath" and "From the Sea" to circumvent legal issues is another story; for us, it's just "Atlantic Rim," also because that's the title under which the film arrived in Italy (on DVD, courtesy of Minerva Pictures). When you find yourself watching a film from Asylum, you have to start with the premise that you are faced with a deliberately bad film. Cheap visual effects, poverty-stricken sets, and C-list actors: an ugliness that has become a trademark, something that audiences now demand. Everything (or almost everything) in Asylum films is delightfully bad, starting with the bizarre stories that expand into crazy and often convincingly stupid screenplays. Of course, "Atlantic Rim" does not deviate from the rule. Jared Cohn is hired to direct, already the author of "Bikini Spring Break," a spoof of Harmony Korinne's "Spring Breakers," and "12/12/12," which is obviously inspired by Darren Lynn Bousman's unfortunate "11/11/11," while the cast includes the former star of "Baywatch" David Chokachi, the rapper Treach, the Indian from "Dances with Wolves" Graham Greene, and a random beauty, Jackie Moore, who comes from some cameo appearances in TV series. Ready to go. The narrative basis is that of "Pacific Rim," but only the most superficial layer, namely the idea of unleashing giant robots controlled by human pilots against equally giant monsters that come from the depths of the abyss. But where Del Toro's film could boast stunning visual effects, beautiful design for robots and monsters, and a proper balance between action scenes and "chatter" and character development, in "Atlantic Rim" everything is unbalanced. The special effects are what they are, and anyone who has ever seen an Asylum product knows what to expect, even if it must be said that in "Atlantic Rim" the quality level is higher, especially regarding integration with the backgrounds. The look of the creatures is rather bland: the monsters are all the same and resemble fairly classic sea dragons, the robots are also all three similar and differ only in color. The painful point comes from the alternation of action/chatter. As often happens with films from this infamous production company, there is a minimum of action, monsters, and fighting (in fact, we only see monsters and robots fight at the beginning and the end) for obvious budget reasons, and for the most part, we witness pedantic exchanges of dialogue between the pilots in their respective cabins or between them and the military who communicate with them from the base at the Pentagon. From time to time, there are "intervals" outside the robots, with unresolved romantic skirmishes, useless rescue sessions that seem placed there only to fill time, and a ridiculous arrest of the protagonist with a subsequent attempt to escape. The result of all this, unfortunately, is that you get bored, and this is a serious flaw for a film that proposes itself as a copy of one of the most adrenaline-filled films of 2013, with a promise of fun not kept. So with "Atlantic Rim," we are not among the "must-sees" of Asylum, but rather among the average works, those made with a certain dignity but without that wild fantasy one would expect, therefore with the sole purpose of riding the wave of a title with commercial success potential. Minerva Video distributes "Atlantic Rim" in DVD format, taking advantage of an excellent video department and a respectable audio in Dolby Digital 5.1. Unfortunately, there are no extra contents or subtitles, and, as sometimes happens with the more recent titles of this label, only the Italian audio track is available. The DVD of "Atlantic Rim" will be available for sale from March 18, 2014.