"Pacific Rim" (2013)

“Pacific Rim” really was one of the most entertaining, fun films of the year. Sure, it was silly, Saturday matinee fare, but that is the target at which it was aiming. It took the ideas from those old 50s monster movies, particularly the likes of Godzilla; added in a good mix of those 1980s cartoons like “Battle of the Planets” or “G.I. Joe” and made something that was far better than any of its inspirations.

Now, it did not improve the source material to the level that “Star Wars” improved on space opera, or “Raiders of the Lost Ark” the classic adventure story. This is not an instant classic. Not even a slow boiler. However, with all of its cheesy dialogue and situations, it did something that just about any straight-up action film for the past ten years has failed to do.

It managed to put exciting, awe inspiring, visual action on film in such a way that audiences could understand what was going on and still be amazed. The sloppy practice in action films since at least the release of “The Bourne Supremacy” have utilized has been to confuse audiences. Just show a jumbled mess of movement and close up shots that no one can identify and then tell them they just saw high impact action as it is really experienced.

The worst offender in this technique has surely been Michael Bay with his Transformers franchise. “Pacific Rim” does giant robots the way they should be done, and then it adds in giant, reptilian monsters to boot.

It is THE action blockbuster of the summer of 2013.