In and amongst the many sequels, prequels, and relaunches coming out this year, there are a few gems to speak of. I came across this one in the course of reading about upcoming sci-fi films that previewed at Comic Con. Known as “Pacific Rim”, the story takes place in a dark future when giant aliens – known as “Kaiju” – rise up from the depth of the Pacific Ocean to inflict a losing war on humanity.

And to combat this new threat, a special breed of massive robots known as Jaegers are produced to fight them. Controlled by human pilots via a neural link, these machines are the last, besrink kikuchit hope humanity has for defeating the alien menace. But of course, this too doesn’t go so well, and the entire war comes down to two unlikely pilots, a classic old Jaeger design, and a last ditch effort.

Directed by Guillermo del Toro (Blade II, Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth), the movie stars Edris Elba (The Losers, Thor, Prometheus) Charlie Hunnam (Children of Men, Sons of Anarchy), and Ron Perlman (Quest for Fire, Hellboy, Enemy at the Gates, Conan) and Rinko Kikuchi (Shanghai, Norwegian Wood, 47 Ronin) in the leading roles.

A more classic story there is not! An alien invasion, giant monsters, giant robots, a desperate war to save humanity, and unlikely heroes. What’s not to love?