The little kid in all of us probably had a heart attack in excitement upon seeing the trailer for "Pacific Rim" but does the final product fill that Power Ranger / Thundercats void in our lives? Visionary filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro sure tries by bringing to life some pretty epic brawls between giant robots and city crushing monsters with some jaw-dropping special effects and character designs. Unfortunately, the human characters are about as flat, and in some cases as obnoxious, as the visuals are astounding. The premise, of course, is pretty ridiculous from the outset but the story would have greatly benefited from a slightly more serious and realistic tone. If the audience can tell the filmmaker isn't taking the material seriously, it's hard when he then asks them to invest in the film's characters. The action is mostly phenomenal but it's not worth wading through all the stupidity to get to it.
Bryce **
BANGERANG SCORE: **
