Peter Travers: ‘Pacific Rim’ Is a ‘Visual Marvel’

The Lone Ranger made last week something of a bummer at the movies, but this week, Peter Travers is excited to talk about Pan’s Labyrinth visionary Guillermo Del Toro’s latest film, the action-packed robots vs. aliens epic Pacific Rim.

Set in 2020, the film finds Earth under attack from the Kaiju, Godzilla-like monsters who have risen from the ocean. The only way mankind can fight back is with Jaegers, giant robots piloted by two humans who have to think in sync to operate the machines. If it sounds a tad confusing, don’t worry ”“ Travers promises it all makes sense while you’re in the theater.

While Travers admits he was a bit nervous that Del Toro might be turning into Michael Bay (“the anti-Christ, to me, of this kind of effects fantasy”), he praises Pacific Rim as a “visual marvel,” comparing Del Toro to “a 10-year-old boy who’s got the best train set in the world ”“ he can play with his toys, he’s created these things, and you are lost in his world for the two hours that this movie takes.”