If you claim to love action movies for the spectacle, then I dare say we shouldn’t expect much more than Pacific Rim in this day and age. Take it from a mecha anime fan: this is good but also quite disappointing. In other words, it’s right on par with most of the mecha genre! Not the “Hollywood and anime crossover” it could’ve been, there’s an irritating lack of confidence in its world and subject matter which makes most of the “story” cringeworthy and empty when it didn’t have to be. Silly does not have to equal stupid. You can be sincerely affectionate for mecha while attempting highbrow, dramatic writing. Still, at least Pacific Rim is relatively original among Western cinema.