The Best Worst Film of 2013.

Before I start this review I feel compelled to mention that two 3D tickets to this particular film cost me £25. I went to watch it on a Sunday, so I only have myself to blame. This is an Orange Wednesday or no-go venture, trust me.

Guillermo del Toro's "Pacific Rim" is the directors first fully blown blockbuster outing to date, with Blade II and the on-going Hellboy series perhaps the closest he's previously come to 'mainstream' cinema. Here, calling on a collection of gigantic robots (Jaegers- not the two for a fiver type variety) and big lizard shaped things (Kaijus), the Mexican filmmaker largely delivers displaying a mastery of scale that makes for a visually captivating monster mash up movie. The CGI is insanely detailed and, more importantly, in tune with the 3D- so much so that it manages to maintain a sense of realism throughout. No mean feat considering the subject matter. Credit where credit's due to ILM.

However, the human aspect of the film is where it falls entirely flat on its shiny metal face. The performance of the modestly assembled cast (including Charlie Hunnam of Green Street fame and one time EastEnders star Robert Kazinsky) is bog standard at best; maybe owing to the fact that they have to relay an awful lot of cringe inducing dialogue which could have been pinched from any high concept film in the last 20 years. If Prometheus and Top Gun had a love child, this would probably be it. Leading man Hunnam and Luther star Idris Elba do what they can with a below par script but there's only so many "Lets end this!" war cries you can endure before you actually start to root for the monster.

A large chunk of the middle third attempts to rectify this by trying its hand at character building. We are temporarily veered away from punching aliens in the face and instead forced to sit through the back story of Elba's character, Stacker Pentecost, leader of the resistance. Despite Elbas' snarling exterior it is the least convincing part of the film. It had me muttering 'bollox' under my breath as I sat there itching for it to move on to another healthy dose of senseless violence. It all seems very slap dash and the interrelationships of the characters are often held together by a below par bit of dialogue.

Pacific Rim will satisfy a younger male demographic and offer hardcore del Toro fans fresh material that they will likely take to, reflected in its current IMDB rating of 8 (no, really) and its solid CinemaScore of A-. However, for those you that enjoy more character based films, acceptable dialogue and being on land this probably isn't for you.

One of the best worst films I've seen in a while (make of that what you will), but if I could go back to that crisp Sunday afternoon and spend the money on something else, I probably would have.

Rating:***