Pacific Rim is a sci-fi action film designed to mirror the Kaiju (Japanese for “strange beast”) movies from Asia during the mid-20th century. Those films were just incredibly cheesy monster flicks that featured monsters fighting monsters, monsters fighting robots, or monsters fighting anything else. Pacific Rim and those older films don’t try to do anything fancy. They just show giant monsters destroying things and fighting. Sometimes that is all you want from a movie.

When looking at film from a Christian perspective, there are times when it may seem like a stretch or a waste of time to come up with a correlation between a plot from the movie and a Biblical lesson. Often when this happens, a glaring similarity manages to find its way to the surface and the lesson you learn is both meaningful and obvious. Pacific Rim may just have one of these lessons hidden right in front of your eyes.

There isn’t much in the way of a plot in this film, but the basic idea is that huge sea monsters start invading Earth through a portal in the Pacific Ocean. The humans decide to build giant robots that will be able to fight the creatures. Well, it looks as if that plan is not going to work, because the tide of the battle shifts to the side of the monsters. However, there is a small group of soldiers and scientists who feel like they can still use the technology to win the day. And that is where the important lesson from Matthew can be found.

Most of the humans had given up. To them, all hope was lost. But the few remaining believers had faith; faith even in the face of total destruction and death. Matthew uses the illustration of a mustard seed not only because the seed itself is so tiny, but also because of what that a seed can become. A mustard seed can grow into a massive tree. That is a powerful little seed! Matthew then goes on to show that with God even that small amount of faith can do huge things; it can move mountains. The small faction of humans who kept a small amount of faith in Pacific Rim accomplished huge things. They saved the world!

Is this a perfect metaphor for Christians to use? Of course not. These humans put their faith in the science and technology they built instead of God. But, then again, they were fighting giant sea monsters, so how much realism are you looking for?

But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. —Matthew 19:26, KJV

We may never have to face giant sea monsters, or aliens, or fight some unthinkable evil to prevent the end of the world. But, if we do, we can triumph. All things are possible with God.

Then said David to the Philistine, ‘Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied … And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.’ And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. —1 Samuel 17:45, 47-49 KJV

If David’s faith in God allowed him to defeat Goliath, what’s a few giant sea monsters?

Pacific Rim is rated PG-13 for intense action and violence throughout with some language.