Pacific Rim: Go Big or Go Extinct? Go big in 3D!

Pacific Rim
Score: 3/5
Release Date: July 12, 2013
MPAA Rating:PG-13
Runtime: 2 hr 11 mins
Format: 2D, 3D, IMAX, IMAX 3D
Budget: $180 million
Worldwide Gross Prediction: $280 million

Food is scarce. The world is in ruins. Terrotorial boundaries and politics don't matter anymore.
Alien monsters are taking over. Mechas are created to protect the future of humankind.

If you've been waiting for Japanese animes like Neon Genesis Evangelion and Full Metal Panic! to get big-budget, live-action treatments - and have been disappointed by Michael Bay's interpretation of Transformers on the big screen - this movie is for you. I think we can all agree that 2013 has been a pretty disappointing year for sci-fi action fans. Oblivion had potential but it was poorly executed. G.I. Joe: Retaliation was barely better than its horrible predecessor even after having been delayed over a year. World War Z would've been better if Brad Pitt wasn't totally hung up on his annoying family the entire time. I didn't even bother seeing After Earth. On the other side of the spectrum, there is Star Trek: Into The Darkness. It was the perfect sequel to one of my favorite movies of the last decade. Like Star Trek, Pacific Rim belongs on the good side of the spectrum. It is a breath of fresh air. Chock-full of original ideas (by Hollywood standards) and breathtaking CGI, it had me laughing, cheering and mesmerized for over two hours.

It has the look of Blade Runner with the feel of Battlestar Galactica and RobotTech.

It reminds you of Halo and Mass Effect cut scenes.

It's Roland Emmerich's Godzilla with less camp and better acting (although Charlie Day was annoying, Burn Gorman was a cartoon character, Rinko Kikuchi's accent was hardly discernible and Charlie Hunnam was pretty robotic - despite all that, the acting was still better. I'm gonna thank Ron Perlman for being his badass self and Idris Elba for being perfect).

The jaw-dropping visual effects and amazing fight sequences between the Kaiju (a Japanese word meaning "strange beast" that has personally been synonymous with Godzilla; here, they are giant aliens that emerge from a portal in the Pacific Ocean) and Jaegers (mechas that are controlled by two mind-melded pilots) will blow your mind. Guillermo del Toro is nothing less than a mastermind. I'm so glad he did something productive after giving up The Hobbit.

Remember the first time you saw Optimus Prime transform on the big screen in 2007? Or the first time you saw the Iron Man suit wrap around Tony Stark in 2008? Well, you'll get that same tingly feeling when you see the mechas activate for the first time. Elba suited up and Hunnam's abs will also provide tingly feelings of another nature for some of you. You know who you are. The 3D is worth it just for the fight sequences. But it won't make you feel like you're touching Hunnam's abs. Sorry, ladies.

TL;DR: If you're a fan of sci-fi action, you will not be disappointed. 

You'll be immersed into a new world of post-apocalyptic ruins and futuristic technology you can only dream of. Character development is lacking and the cast isn't the strongest, but hopefully you're here to see robots and monsters fighting - not people yapping. And epically awesome fighting is what you'll get.

When's the sequel coming out?