To fight monsters… we created monsters.

It’s like a Beastie Boys music video on steroids. The epic first trailer for Guillermo del Toro‘s sci-fi blockbuster Pacific Rim, in which giant human-controlled robots battle skyscraper-sized monsters from the deep, takes its cues from classic monster movies like Godzilla and untold Japanese anime. It’s classic stuff and the sort of sensory overload you’d expect from a film like this.

In 2013, legions of monstrous creatures called Kaiju rise from a dimensional rip in the ocean floor and wreak havoc on Earth. Giant robots called Jaegers are created to fight the Kaiju. But after years of war, with defeat at hand, humankind’s last hope rests with a washed up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam, Sons of Arachy), a rookie trainee (Rinko Kikuchi, The Brother Bloom) and a legendary but obsolete Jaeger.

Like a kid in a $200m candy shop, this is Del Toro gone wild(er); with Idris Elba (Prometheus), Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Burn Gorman (The Dark Knight Rises) and Charlie Day (Horrible Boss) along for the high-octane, monster-bashing ride.

Prepare for war.

There’s a fine line between old school classic and outright cheese, and the film walks that tightrope.

The robot and creature design look phenomenal (classic Del Toro) and the set pieces are jaw-dropping – I’m a sucker for that sort of thing. But I’m not sold on the cheesy voice-over and Idris Elba’s Bill Pullman-like Independence Day speech, although I guess it’s in keeping with the style of the film.

The battles alone will be worth the price of admission. I just hope behind all that flash is an interesting story – we don’t need another Transformers.

But… so far, so good.

They say that good artists borrow, but great artists steal. What influences can you see here?

When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity’s resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes—a washed up former pilot and an untested trainee —who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind’s last hope against the mounting apocalypse.

Directed by Guillermo del Toro the film stars Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Ron Perlman, Burn Gorman, and Charlie Day.

Pacific Rim smashes into New Zealand theatres on 11 July, 2013