Pacific Rim Uprising (2018) review

Before his 2017 directorial effort The Shape of Water won the Oscar for Best Picture (along with winning him the Oscar for Best Director), Guillermo Del Toro did what he did best and released a visually stunning blockbuster in the summer of 2013 known as Pacific Rim. The film, which was about large robots fighting equally large monsters, served as a love letter to the ‘kaiju’ film genre that is well known for classics like Godzilla and 2006’s The Host. Upon its release, the film did solidly with critics, many of whom acknowledged that the film was an enjoyable popcorn flick despite its rather mindless plot and basic character development. At the box-office, the film grossed over $411 million worldwide, though this was mainly thanks to the international box-office as it barely grossed over $100 million domestically. Still, it proved to be just enough to warrant a sequel in the form of Pacific Rim Uprising. This time around, the film is distributed by Universal instead of Warner Bros. due to its main production company, Legendary Pictures, signing a new distribution deal with the former in 2013. Also, due to his commitment to the previously mentioned Shape of Water, we don’t have Guillermo Del Toro behind the camera on this one (he’s only a producer this time). Instead, we have Steven S. DeKnight, a long-time veteran of TV having created the hit Starz series Spartacus while also kick-starting Marvel Studios’ line of Netflix shows by serving as the show-runner for Season 1 of Daredevil, in his official feature-length directorial debut. This directorial debut of his features several returning players from the first Pacific Rim along with several new characters headlined by Star Wars’ Finn, John Boyega. And overall, this sequel manages to deliver the same great kinetic thrills of its predecessor even if it is still very much one of those ‘shut off your brain’ kind of films.

It has been a decade since humanity managed to repel the threat of giant alien monsters known as kaiju. With the aid of massive, dual-piloted mechs known as ‘Jaegers’, the pilots who controlled them managed to seal off the breach that had emerged deep within the Pacific Ocean which allowed the kaiju to travel to their world and wreak destruction wherever they went as part of their plan to take over the world. Since then, the Jaeger program has continued to evolve in preparation for the kaiju’s potential return. However, the program soon finds itself being threatened by the ongoing development of a new program initiated by the Shao Corporation, led by Liwen Shao (Jing Tian), that plans on using drones designed with both Jaeger and Kaiju technology. And to make matters worse, the kaiju cells embedded within the drones soon start taking over, leading to them causing just as much destruction as the kaiju that came before them. In response to this, ‘Battle of the Breach’ hero Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) recruits her brother Jake Pentecost (John Boyega), the son of her former commanding officer/adoptive father Stacker Pentecost (who sacrificed himself at the end of the first film), to return to the Jaeger program and train its newest recruits along with his former co-pilot, Nate Lambert (Scott Eastwood). In the process, Jake and company soon learn that this recent string of kaiju-related attacks may, in fact, be the work of someone within their own organization.

Now because Del Toro isn’t directing this time, it is understandable if this film doesn’t exactly have the same visual finesse as its predecessor. Still, to his credit, McKnight does manage to maintain a lot of the same visual aesthetics that Del Toro established with the first film while also implementing a few new cues as well, namely by having more action sequences set during the day instead of at night (not that this was a problem with the first film, for the record). And while McKnight’s method of directing action is a bit more Michael Bay-ish compared to how Del Toro handled it (something that many felt the first film wisely avoided in the wake of Bay’s Transformers films), that doesn’t stop the film from having more of the same, great robot/monster action that we’ve come to expect from this franchise. Simply put, the key thing that McKnight does here is that he gives the film a much brighter look compared to the first film. Now again, this is not meant to be a jab at the original Pacific Rim. It’s just that this is the way in which this film ultimately adopts its own identity so that it’s not just a ‘carbon copy’ sequel. In fact, this brighter feel to the film even applies to its overall tone, as it adopts a more light-hearted atmosphere with a lot more humorous dialogue thrown in. However, this doesn’t mean that the film is ‘just a comedy’. Like the first film, it treats its serious moments with the proper respect that they deserve while the humor is used to lighten the mood at just the right times. But let’s face it, folks… you’re not going into this film for the story, no matter how effective it is at being a follow-up to its predecessor. You’re here to see giant robots punch giant monsters repeatedly.

With that in mind, one of the most common criticisms directed towards the original Pacific Rim was that its characters weren’t as well-developed as its action sequences. Despite this, though, the film still managed to work around this thanks to Guillermo Del Toro’s strong visual style. The same general scenario applies to Uprising as well. Obviously, you’re not going to get much depth out of these characters. While the film does introduce some new characters and build them up as ‘the next generation’ of Jaeger pilots, at the end of the day only one of them gets any major focus. And as for fans of the original film, you may not necessarily like some of the ways in which this film further develops its returning characters (and before you ask, no, the film does not explain what happened to Charlie Hunnam’s character, Raleigh Becket). But this is all saved by one key member of the cast; John Boyega in the lead role of Jake Pentecost, the son of the man who boldly claimed that humanity would ‘cancel the apocalypse’. The same great charisma that helped Boyega make Finn such a great new character in the Star Wars universe is on full display here, and even if he’s working with a simple characterization of being the son of a war hero trying to live up to his father’s name, it never hinders him in the slightest. He also has solid camaraderie with Scott Eastwood, who also makes the most out of his simple role as the hard-edged soldier who isn’t on the best of terms with Jake. But the real breakout star of the film is newcomer Cailee Spaeny as Amara, an orphaned girl who joins the Jaeger program thanks to her knowledge of Jaeger technology (i.e. building one herself). Spaeny follows strongly in the footsteps of the first film’s breakout star, Rinko Kikuchi, by getting some of the more interesting bits of character development in the film while arguably managing to outshine some of her more famous co-stars… yes, even John Boyega.

I quite enjoyed the original Pacific Rim. For all its narrative shortcomings, it was quite arguably one of the most visually stunning blockbusters in recent memory. You really can’t go wrong with a sci-fi action extravaganza directed by the one and only Guillermo Del Toro. And while he may not have been behind the camera for its sequel, Steven S. DeKnight manages to serve as a solid replacement for Del Toro in the director’s chair. Pacific Rim Uprising ends up being a much brighter film compared to its predecessor in terms of both visual style and tone. And yet, at the end of the day, the film doesn’t lose sight of the franchise’s greatest aspect; epic, grand-scale action sequences that involve giant robots fighting giant monsters in the middle of a city. As for the writing, once again there’s not much to say about it; it’s another simple plot with your basic collection of characters. However, there’s also John Boyega, who gives it his all and proves that he can carry a franchise all by himself. Did I forget to mention that he produced this film as well? Clearly, he’s quite committed to this franchise. And on that note, hopefully, this film does decently enough financially to warrant another sequel. Granted, given how the first film didn’t do so well here in the states back in 2013, I have the feeling that the sequel probably won’t make that much of a commercial impact either in the domestic market. But, hopefully, the international box-office will end up saving it just like it did with the first film. Because after all, there are just some films out there that don’t need an Oscar-worthy screenplay to be a highly entertaining time at the theater, and Pacific Rim Uprising is very much one of those films.

Rating: 4/5