MOVIE REVIEWS: PACIFIC RIM

Pacific Rim has continued to pile up mostly positive reviews from critics whose opinions only appear in the Friday editions of their papers. Steven Rea in the Philadelphia Inquirer observes that unlike the directors of similar megabudget monster epics, “del Toro isn’t just here to show off his high-tech toys, whooshing action shots, and awe-inducing visual effects. Pacific Rim shares much with the Mexican filmmaker’s Hellboy franchise – jokey and comic book-y, full of muscular tableaus.” And Ty Burr in the Boston Globe remarks that the film has been “invested, against all expectations, with a heart, a brain, and something approximating a soul.” And A.O. Scott in the New York Times offers this warning: “If you walk in expecting subtlety, or even novelty, you may find yourself more tormented than entertained. But Pacific Rim is also a reminder — either just in time or much too late — that this kind of movie can and should be fun.” Clearly, however, Joe Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal was among the tormented. He writes: “My head is still ringing, and hurting, from long stretches of this aliens vs. robots extravaganza that are no better than the worst brain-pounders of the genre.”