Yeah. Pacific Rim was a breath of fresh air just to be getting a Yaeger/Kaiju movie at all. Then to watch it and discover it was made by a true fan of the genre, just fantastic.
I knew I was going to love Pacific Rim (giant robots and monsters? Sign me up) but I didnt expect the horror element of it and exactly how menacing each kaiju would be. I can easily rewatch it many times.
To the original question, from recent memory a film that surprised me was Dungeons and Dragons Honor among Thieves. The IP didnt have a great track record in film, but this one was entertaining, funny, heartwarming, and highly recommended.