The film Mexican director Guillermo del Toro made after abandoning The Hobbit, this fanboy-baiting, high-concept, sci-fi action adventure is huge, ridiculous fun. After gargantuan creatures (kaijus) start emerging from an inter-dimensional fissure in the Pacific Ocean, humanity bands together to build jaegers - giant, human-piloted robots designed to take down kaijus. A decade after the kaijus first emerged, the jaeger programme has fallen out of political favour and the robots are headed for the scrap heap. But Marshal Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba) has a plan to end the kaiju problem once and for all, and it involves tormented former pilot Raleigh Beckett (Charlie Hunnam).
I had a ball watching Pacific Rim - it is in no way ashamed of its crazy set-up, and has no shortage of insane set-pieces. But if you go into the movie with even the slightest degree of cynicism, the whole enterprise could easily derail. The script is filled with endless howlers and there are plot holes big enough to drive a jaeger through.
However, anyone weaned on giant robot cartoons will delight in seeing such ideas come to life, and the sheer scale of the spectacle on display is highly impressive. Just remember to switch your brain off.
Stars: 4/5
M; 131 mins. Out now
