A throwback to the 1950s and ’60s Japanese monster movies which followed the original Gojira (Godzilla), Guillermo del Toro’s movie is a blend of titanium-plated Transformers-like robot technology and old-fashioned, rubber-suited monster mayhem on big city streets.  It’s just as dorky as its predecessors, yet its budget allows for special effects that are way cooler than Toho’s best.  It’s a fun movie that could have been the hit of the summer, except for del Toro’s wobbly aim.

Giant kaiju — monsters from another dimension — appear from a rift deep in the Pacific Ocean and begin to destroy cities at an alarming rate.  Conventional weapons work, but not very well, so we decide to build giant robots, piloted by teams of two people each, that can pummel the beasts to death.  As the war turns in favor of the kaiju, the robot warriors, jaegers, make one last desperate stand to save the world.

The human element of the story is intriguing, if underdeveloped.  Only a few people can work in tandem effectively to control the giant robots.  One would think a better recruiting program would be in order.  Nevertheless, personalities are established so that the audience has people to cheer on.  And this is what is missing from the other side of Pacific Rim: the monsters have no such personalities.  The old films were named after the monsters — Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, Ghidrah, Mechagodzilla, etc. — because the monsters were the draw.  Here, the robots are named (Gipsy Dancer, etc.) but the monsters never develop personalities of their own.  They often fill the screen so completely that it is difficult to see exactly what they are and what they can do, which is very disappointing.

An aspect of the story that works very well involves two scientists (Burn Gorman, Charlie Day) with rival theories about the kaiju, each hoping to best the other and provide an inside track on beating the things.  They are funny and meaningful to the story, finally joining forces when it matters the most.  And del Toro regular player Ron Perlman has a sly supporting role that enlivens the plot as well.

Pacific Rim could have been the best popcorn movie of the summer, but its reticence to give equal billing to its monsters is a definite drawback.  Highlighting the robots and the technology to build them is fine, but the kaiju themselves are, or should have been, just as important to the story.  Toho, and Ray Harryhausen, understood that the marauding beasts have a beauty and poignancy of their own to which audiences can respond; del Toro must have missed that point in film class.  The result is a fun movie that could have been even better.  ☆ ☆ ☆.  5 August 2013.