...eh, i gotta be honest, i kinda draw a bit of a blurry line on the word "sci-fi" because i think most people, when they hear "sci-fi" think, space travel, ufos, lazers, giant robots, mad scientists, time travel, etc...and i think in this case especially, it's just a case of the director saying they aren't gonna go crazy (that's Pacific Rim's job) and they aren't gonna waste our time worrying about origins and wacky Plan Z's and such...
EDIT: btw, Pacific Rim job...wow...