The original Pacific Rim was one of those movies where your brain kept telling you, “yeah, this is kind of ridiculous.” At the same time, however, your need for CGI carnage couldn’t help but eat up every second of it. The film essentially delivered what its target demographic wanted: giant robots battling giant monsters on a scale that had never quite been attempted before. Pacific Rim: Uprising isn’t as fresh as its 2013 predecessor. The stakes aren’t as high and there’s a surprise villain who’s almost as silly as Jesse Eisenberg trying to be Lex Luthor. On the whole, though, it delivers more of what the audience asked for.
Here are three reasons to check it out:
3. The New Actors
Charlie Hunnam’s Raleigh is basically MIA this time around while Rinko Kikuchi’s Mako is reduced to a glorified cameo. The focus instead shifts to John Boyega of the Star Wars sequel trilogy as Jake Pentecost, the son of Idris Elba’s character from the first film. Ten years following his dad’s death, Jake is a cocky thief who could be a great jaeger pilot if he just learned to apply himself. Despite repeatedly saying that he’s not his father, Jake is eventually convinced to join a jaeger program in Hong Kong. There, he reunites with his old co-pilot Nate (Scott Eastwood) and meets a ragtag band of new recruits.
In addition to Boyega, newcomer Cailee Spaeny shines as Amara, an orphaned street rat who builds a mini jaeger of her own. Her and Jake develop a brother/sister relationship of sorts that’s actually quite charming, giving the robot battles a bit more depth than one might expect. Jing Tian also stands out as Liwen Shao, the tough as nails businesswoman who develops remote-controlled jaegers. All the actors here are ultimately well-suited for their roles, although it’s admittedly hard not to think of the Paddy’s Pub gang whenever Charlie Day’s Dr. Newt shows up.
2. The Colorful Action
As talented as the cast is, let’s be honest. We’re mainly here for the towering colossi. With the apocalypse un-cancelled, Pacific Rim: Uprising serves up a balanced blend of jaegers vs. kaiju and jaegers vs. jaegers. While Oscar-winner Guillermo del Toro steps down as director, he leaves the franchise in the capable hands of Steven S. DeKnight, who’s best known for his work on shows like Daredevil and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. DeKnight’s action set pieces are vibrant, fast-paced, and just awesome enough to make the audience forget that the story is virtually absent.
1. It’s Still Better Than Michael Bay’s Transformers
Since giant robot movies are usually pretty straightforward, you’d think it would be easy to keep fans happy. If Michael Bay proved anything with Transformers: The Last Knight, however, it’s that even big, loud action flicks require a certain je ne sais quoi. Unlike the Transformer sequels, Pacific Rim: Uprising doesn’t overstay its welcome or take itself too seriously. It knows that audiences are there for a little testosterone-laced excitement and that’s what they get, no more, no less. That might not be saying much, but Paramount and Hasbro may what to take notes with Transformers apparently getting rebooted.
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