Pacific Rim

Guillermo del Toro's giant-robots-vs.-giant-monsters epic adventure begins on K-Day, as legions of immense alien creatures known as Kaiju start rising from the Pacific Ocean, igniting a horrific war in which millions of lives are sacrificed and humanity's resources are drained for years. To fight the relentless, oppressive behemoths, massive 25-story-tall robots, called Jaegers—each with its own distinctive design, ability, and personality—were deployed, controlled by dual pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge (whatever that is). Now, all seems lost…until two unlikely and, unfortunately, rather uninteresting heroes—former pilot Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) and untested trainee Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi)—team up to defend mankind, maneuvering a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger. Pacific Rim wears its influences on its high-tech sleeve, including Godzilla, Transformers, and Power Rangers. Facile, fast-paced, and boasting awesome visual effects from Industrial Light & Magic, this overlong film towers above the pack on eye candy but is short on everything else, such as character development and smart storytelling. Optional. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Guillermo del Toro, “Focus Points” behind-the-scenes featurettes (62 min.), production segments on “The Digital Artistry” (17 min.) and “Drift Space” (5 min.), deleted scenes (4 min.), a blooper reel (4 min.), “The Shatterdome” art galleries, and a bonus UltraViolet copy of the film. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is “The Director's Notebook” interactive featurette (with notes, artwork, and videos with del Toro), and a bonus DVD copy of the film. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a visually overwhelming but otherwise underwhelming big budget flick.] (S. Granger)