Pacific Rim

This is the rare summer blockbuster that lives up to the hype. In the film, a tunnel has opened up from the Earth’s core and is spitting out giant Kaiju that have nothing better to do than pull the spitting high-tension wires down, with a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound, before wading through the buildings toward the center of the city. I would have been happy with just that, but the movie isn’t just for me. So writer/director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) throws in the Jaegers, giant robots, each manned by a pair of human co-pilots holding hands with their minds, or something like that. Once things get rolling—and they get rolling fast—we have giant robots beating up on giant monsters, and vice versa. While it’s loud and noisy, it’s also clever, as a blockbuster ideally should be. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated PG-13.