Pacific Rim

I can almost see a single tear trickling down from Gamera’s eye: his genre is finally all grown up. And this is exactly that: the Japanese monster movie made to adult proportions. This one is entertaining, to be sure, but like its Japanese forebears it’s also very difficult to take seriously. Suspension of disbelief really gets thrown through the ringer; when a pan-dimensional portal at the bottom of the ocean that spits out giant monsters is NOT the most unbelievable part of your story...well, that’s a tough row to hoe. There’s also a little too much plot getting in the way of the smashing stuff, and some but not quite enough cheeky humor. It should be said, though: it looks great; first class visuals all the way. All together, acceptable, but not really something special in this day and age.