Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'll say up front, though it bears little resemblance to the monster sized dump that is Michael Bay's "Transformers" trilogy-Pacific Rim is the type of movie Bayformers should have been. What I mean by that-is that unlike those hell spawned abominations-Pacific Rim delivers giant robots that awe and inspire instead of ones that pee on people and dangle metallic testicles. Also unlike Bayformers you will not be forced to witness any dog humping or have to groan through lame "jokes" about red mugs in yellow rooms. (No 45 minute long who-gives-a-crap job interview scenes in here either) Thankfully-Pacific Rim does not take an uber-cool property and twist it, turn it and crush it beyond recognition into some overly long, lame one-note joke of a film. Instead, it's completely earnest and non cynical in its delivery. I've been a fan of Guillermo Del Toro since Pan's Labyrinth (a BRILLIANT adult fairy tale) and have gone back and watched his other films to discover what a true master of the art he really is. I went into Pacific Rim with realistic expectations-daring to hope that it would be the movie I wanted it to be. I left the theater transformed into a little boy filled with wonder and amazement at what I had just witnessed. Though this film is jam packed with special effects-they serve to add to the story not to take away from it or go unnecessarily over the top (I'm looking at you Man of Steel...). The Jaegers here are a marvel to behold and easy on the eyes (unlike the overcomplicated designs of the Bayformers). The sense of scale and power they inspire is awe striking and the Jaegers are beautifully designed in every way. In fact, the whole movie (praise to the art director) is incredibly consistent in its design-whisking us far away from the real world into the candy colored Kaiju vs. Jaeger world of the future which is EXACTLY what a good movie SHOULD do. This film takes special effects far beyond mere gimmickry and serves them up as colorful and artistic as possible. Even if Pacific Rim is not your kind of movie, you can't help but to be blown away by how beautiful it all is. While the story here may not be Oscar-worthy, it's still very sound and interesting and the characters (mostly unknown actors) are very likable. Idris Elba is good in everything he does and his role here is no different. Charlie Hunnam also brings a lot of charisma to the protagonist. In short, Pacific Rim is a well meaning film that knows EXACTLY what kind of film it is and it aims right for the heart of the little boy inside us all. For me, it brought back that sense of wonder and awe my adult self had forgotten movies were still capable of delivering. I really enjoyed playing in Guillermo Del Toro's sand box. Pacific Rim is a monsters vs. robots smash fest and it's completely unapologetic about being exactly that. Do yourself a favor and give Pacific Rim a look. See it in the theater if you can for the sheer sense of scale. Fathers take your sons to see this film too. If movies like this continue to flounder at the box office, it's a guarantee that original ideas will cease to exist and the summer box office season will be bloated with more sequels, spin offs, reboots, etc. Del Toro nailed this one, it's the movie his career has been building up to. I just knew he had something spectacular up his sleeve and Pacific Rim is that film. It's fantastic.