I walked out of Pacific Rim feeling pretty disappointed. That didn't surprise me. This is my usual reaction to a new Guillermo del Toro film. The same thing happened after seeing both Hellboy movies and Pan's Labyrinth. With a little time, I began to appreciate what del Toro was doing in those films - and how much imagination and love he puts into every one of his creations. Now, each of those movies are among my all-time favorites. Pacific Rim probably won't be joining that esteemed list. Don't get me wrong - it's not a bad movie. Far from it. It's certainly the most satisfying and cohesive blockbuster of the summer, made with a lot of passion and good will. But it has the same problems that have plagued this crop of summer movies: it crams more ideas than can comfortably fit into its runtime, yet rarely spends any time exploring those ideas. Before we go any further, lets start with the facts of the case. Im a thirty-four year-old male and an all around smart-ass. I've always had a thing for robots - especially giant robots that punch giant monsters right in their no-good, alien kissers. I wouldn't say I'm a big kaiju fan or anything - with only a few Godzilla films to compare Pacific Rim to. But I am a self-professed del Toro fan. I love this man and his Hellboy movies more than I should, possibly to unhealthy degrees. With a few days of reflection, I'm warming up to Pacific Rim - but not as much as I expected. Here's where I stand now on a very unlikely but enjoyable popcorn movie. So let's get some
spoilers going and talk a little Pacific Rim, shall we?