Kaiju Are Coming: Prepare For The Worst

The Internet was on fire yesterday with teasers and talk of Guillermo del Toro’s 2013 kaiju film, Pacific Rim, and it’s all of it was spectacular. We got an emergency broadcast called the “Kaiju Emergency Alert System,” which is a stroke of genius, a news report from the scene, and a nice blueprint of the kaiju-fighting robot.

With del Toro at the helm, this film could go either way: It could be Host meets Independence Day or it could be Godzilla meets District 9 meets Robotech. Either of those options could be cool, but I think we all know which would be better.

This could end up being a sci-fi masterpiece, and del Toro has already hinted at a sequel. Yes, the thought of an alien race emerging from the depths of the ocean is exciting, and our anticipation of seeing them is high, but what we’re really excited about is the Jaegers, the human-piloted robots. The idea of two pilots neurally connected doing battle in a robot the size of the Sears Tower is overwhelming. Better than the Transformers? I think so for the simple fact that, if this were reality, we could potentially pilot ourselves.

Pacific Rim stars Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Ron Perlman, and Rinko Kikuchi, among others. The film is expected to have a July 2013 release, although the date has changed a few times.