Every phase of this is given ample room to develop, becoming bigger and wilder as it goes.

It is summer entertainment as it used to be; grounded spectacle, with basic, small-scale stakes, likable heroes and a high-concept plot that is easy to follow. It is the exact type of movie that caused some of us to fall in love with the medium in the first place.

The physical presence of the performers is more than enough to tell this story. It isn’t some groundbreaking action classic, though it does what it sets out to do successfully and is pretty entertaining at it.

This is a tremendous, fast-paced, dramatic, exciting, sneakily passionate take on the material, that is faithful, despite some modernizations.

The focus, as expected, is on warmed-over wisecracks and lots of chaotic action where you can’t really see what’s going on.

It is a decently made version of the same story that has already been made hundreds of times. Just because it is based on a true story doesn’t mean it isn’t also extremely derivative.

Everything here exists to serve the action, which is exciting, entertaining and very well-crafted. If it gets to be a little much by the end, well, thrill rides can be that way sometimes.

It wants to be a big fantasy action movie, with effects, larger than life heroes and pure evil villains. It also wants to be a sendup of exactly that kind of movie. It turns out that this combination does not work.

Bob Odenkirk is, of course, perfect for the material, bringing his dead-pan humor and amusing realism to a deadly situation. It is bloody and explosive, after a strangely slow setup.

I wondered when the joy of exploring Pandora would stop being enough. The answer turns out to be approximately 45 minutes into the third entry.