At it’s core, Giant Monsters vs. Giant Robots is a can’t miss pitch of a film.  Its succeeded for decades in Japan, but the American attempts (namely, the 1998 Godzilla remake and Robot Jox) have been downright horrible.

Cut to now, cut to 2013.  With a gargantuan budget patched up alongside gargantuan action, director Guillermo Del Toro graduates to the big times with his film pitting Kaiju (the Japanese term for Giant Monsters) against the robotic Jaegers (German for hunter) in Pacific Rim.  I’m pleased to say that front to back, the movie is an absolute success, combining everything we love about modern day blockbusters with the economy of storytelling and memorable casts found in the classic genre films of the 70’s and 80’s.  This isn’t an existing property, this isn’t a sequel, this is a fantastic one and done film, and you’re going to love every single minute on screen.

The plot is deceptively simple - the year is 2025, and humanity is at the end of its rope.  It’s been 12 years since the first Kaiju surfaced in San Francisco, and attacks are becoming more and more regular.  These attacks resulted in the Pan Pacific Defense Force coming together, a massive military force of all of the world’s armies, and combined they invented the Jaegers. A dozen years in, however, what once was key victories met with celebrity and praise are now regular nuisances met with collateral damage. In turn, the Jaeger army is down to just three robots - the Australian Striker Eureka, piloted by a brash father/son duo, the Russian Cherno Alpha, piloted by a bling wearing brother and sister, and the three-armed Chinese Crimson Typhoon, piloted appropriately by triplets.

Lead by Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba), these final Jaegers are planning an all-out assault to end the war - they just need one more Jaeger to go.  This leads them to call up lost pilot Raleigh Beckett (Charlie Hunnam), pilot of Gypsy Danger. He walked away from the Jaeger game five years ago, after his brother was killed while serving as Raleigh’s co-pilot.  Each Jaeger needs two pilots to carry the neural load of such a giant machine, and it requires an acute mental connection.  Can the Jaegers defeat the ever increasing in power Kaiju? Can Raleigh return to his lost glory? Can he find a partner that fits?  This is the crux of the film, a three pronged attack which keeps the plot moving and keeps you engaged.  There’s rarely a minute unused here, running 2 hours and change, never feeling fatty or over-long.

This simple plot is brought to life with a colorful, wide reaching cast - from the amazingly costumed Russians to such characters as Kaiju scientist Newt Geizler (Charlie Day, channeling Rick Moranis in Ghostbusters) and pimped out Kaiju black market dealer Hannibal Chau (a scene stealing Ron Perlman).  It’s a shame then that our two leads, the aforementioned Raleigh Beckett and Japanese Pan Pacific Defense member Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) are a bit bland by comparison, but to be fair, Luke and Leia are the most boring parts of A New Hope.

Speaking of A New Hope, one of the greatest elements of Pacific Rim is the world building. There is such incredible nuance and thought put into the set designs and costuming here.  Small design elements such as street signs, outfit emblems and dirt and grime give the imagined 2025 Post-Kaiju world a true lived-in feeling and brings the whole film to life.  This is then blown apart with amazing, jaw dropping action, which appropriately ramps up (each battle gets bigger and better) and includes an ever evolving series of intricate and eye-popping creature designs.

This is the most fun I have had in a movie theatre since I was a small child.  This is everything the movie geek brain wants, and it’s delivered expertly with a solid touch.  Never too dark and met with moments of genuine character based humor, it was great to find myself in a movie that wanted to be fun.  I can’t wait to take this ride again and again.  Guillermo Del Toro is officially one of our greatest blockbuster filmmakers - Pacific Rim has made him one of the elite.  Even the post-conversion 3D works for once, layering effects and interfaces while keeping the action feeling huge.

In a year of Iron Men, Men of Steel, and Treks into Darkness, Pacific Rim is the best adventure of the summer. Get on board this Friday.

Pacific Rim hits theaters on July 12th.