Pacific Rim (2013)

Overall: 11
Here is a confession that will likely cause some of you to disregard every movie rating of mine that you have ever agreed with: I still love cartoons. Why? Because they often draw clear lines between the good guys and the bad guys. With cartoons you generally know who you want to win and why. The good guys are often honorable, respectful, fair, self sacrificing, brave, and true. Think Optimus Prime, Superman, Spiderman, Rapunzel, Professor Xavier, GI Joe, Phineas, Mulan, Aang, etc. When one of the good guys makes a mistake--and it is often not the primary protagonist who does that because he/she is just too dang good--he/she usually learns a lesson about being good along the way. Sure cartoons are usually silly, and often not as complex as the adult mind. But, that is intentional, and part of the reason why they are fun.

What does this have to do with Pacific Rim? This is a movie that is intentionally silly (think The Mummy silly), cartoonish in style, and straight-forward as to who the good guys and bad guys are. I think this is why I ended up enjoying myself, despite being pretty sure I would think it too goofy before I sat down to watch. This movie is definitely not for everyone. However, if you like cartoons, this movie may be a good fit for you.

Entertainment: 4
Pacific Rim will not be a like (4) for everyone, but I enjoyed myself. It is Power Rangers meets Godzilla for...not children, but it is intentionally silly and does NOT take itself too seriously.

Writing: 3
Here is the thing about the writing: it gets a lot of things right. The movie is plot light, but actually has a story rather than being a series of city-demolishing fight scenes. It is quite predictable in some ways, but manages to tie up the A and B plots nicely. If it were not for a couple of noticeable plot holes, I would have given this a 4.

Presentation: 4
No doubt about it, the movie looks good. It blends Godzilla (not the new one), Transformers, and Hellboy into one. However, for some reason it never had any moment where those visuals left me feeling blown away. The acting was quite good across the board. Again, really campy, but good clean fun.