Sometimes when I sit down and watch a movie I just want to be swept away and be dazzled with both sight and sound. The movies don't have to be dramatically perfect just capable of blowing all my sensors.

Battleship and Pacific Rim are 2 of those movies.

Pacific Rim takes a cool concept for a story, Monsters vs Machines and entwines a human element (the pilots) to result in a really fun extravaganza. The movie is not deep but has enough story to piece together the fighting sequences.

Sit down, hit the lights, pump the volume, disengage brain and have a blast :)

Wasn't sure whether to check out 'Pacific Rim'. Reviews were mixed, and those who disliked it (some of vehement) were particularly vocal.

This said, being someone who has found much to like about some of Guillermo Del Toro's previous films, especially the brilliant 'Pan's Labyrinth' and who cannot go wrong with actors like Idris Elba and Ron Perlman in the cast, I watched it anyway. Admittedly there are flaws here and they are quite large, but at the same time 'Pacific Rim' also does a good deal right.

Starting with what 'Pacific Rim' excelled with, it is an incredible-looking film. The cinematography is immaculate, the editing slick, the set/production design audacious and with a suitable amount of grit, but the star visually is the special effects on the robots, which are mind-blowing and some of the best in recent memory. The action and spectacle is exhilarating stuff and keeps one glued to the edge of their seat, they're big and over-the-top but that was what the film was going for and it succeeds wonderfully. The music score fits very well and has several energetic and haunting moments, though occasionally some intrusive ones.

Del Toro does a fine job directing in the action and succeeds in maintaining the silly fun that the film was aiming for (being apparently a homage to the old Godzillas). The film does know what it's trying to be, often has some efficient pacing and target audience is never questioned, which puts it above a fair few similar blockbusters. Not all the acting is great, but there are good performances from a commanding and coolly macho Idris Elba, a expressively understated Rinko Kikuchi and an always reliable if underused Ron Perlman.

Charlie Hunnam is rather bland though in the lead, while of the failure that is the comedy double act of Charlie Day and Burn Gorman Charlie Day in particular is incredibly irritating and there are some very off Australian accents (especially from Robert Kazinsky, which keeps coming and going, often speaking in his own accent). 'Pacific Rim' also has some cringe-worthy and vomit-inducingly inane dialogue and paper thin stereotypical characterisation where not much is done to develop the characters and make one properly care for them. Unfortunately, while this reviewer is not afraid to admit that she had a fun time watching the film the story does get bogged down in the non-action scenes in derivative macho drama and over-silliness, the main culprit as aforementioned being the unfunny comedy double act, and the pacing sometimes loses tightness.

All in all, kind of a mixed view on this one. Fun and very well made, but not immune to flaws. 6/10 Bethany Cox All in all,

PACIFIC RIM is Guillermo del Toro's tribute to the kaiju and Japanese sci-fi movies of his youth; you know, the ones involving giant monsters trashing cities and huge robots sent out to protect mankind. I had an inkling he wanted to make this movie after the giant plant creature in HELLBOY 2; well, now he has.

And this is a lot of fun, a decent popcorn flick for a change and a film that's well made enough to erase memories of the disappointing TRANSFORMERS movies. It's a great Hollywood tribute to Japanese cinema, filled with all of the wonderful effects and super-sized action that you'd hope for. Del Toro is one of those directors who hasn't made a bad film yet; you can always rely on him for entertainment.

Sure, the stuff with the human characters isn't as interesting as the giant stuff. But at least we get plenty of British actors in the cast (Burn Gorman, Idris Elba, Rob Kazinsky, Charlie Hunnam) which keeps it fresh and interesting. The CGI effects are excellent, as you'd expect, and while the storyline is very predictable, that's not the point. The point is to deliver huge bouts of destructive action, and that's what del Toro does. And it's a lot of fun.