Kernel Rating (out of 5): 
MPAA Rating: PG-13 Length: 131 minutes
Age Appropriate for: 12+. Monsters versus robots! Lots of stuff for tween and teen boys to love here, and it’s presented in a wonderfully fantastical sci-fi way that isn’t gory or grotesque. There are a few thrilling, suspenseful fights between the aforementioned robots and monsters; some fistfights between humans; some characters who have been physically or mentally harmed by those fights (which nicely brings into focus the lasting effects of war); a scene where a baby monster is born and tries to eat a human; and some cursing.
Ignore the people who are saying ‘Pacific Rim’ is just like ‘Transformers’ or ‘Real Steel’; they can’t see the heart of this movie. Because sure, it’s a loud, goofy summer blockbuster—but the film has a deep affection not only for its sci-fi subject matter but for human connection, a respectable effort that is more emotionally engaging than most anything else you’ll see this season.
By Roxana Hadadi
To say “Pacific Rim” is wholly original would be a lie; it has too many foundational pieces of the action movie genre to be totally groundbreaking. But it’s how director and co-writer Guillermo del Toro rearranges those foundational pieces, how he updates them for a modern audience and a modern time, that makes “Pacific Rim” not only impressively inclusive—this isn’t a movie just about strong white men—but thoroughly rousing. The world can come together to defeat monsters through science and humanity and ingenuity? Cool. That’s a world I want to live in.
