Pacific Rim: Uprising will at least be remembered as the movie that dethroned Black Panther after ruling the box office for five consecutive weeks. A short window, as Steven Spielberg's highly anticipated Ready Player One opened within the next week. This franchise-expanding sequel is by no means a bad movie - after all, if you're eager to see giant robots duke it out with huge monsters, that's ultimately how you'll measure the film's success - and I love my monsters and robots.
But know going in this is nowhere near the magic pulp explosion of the great Guillermo del Toro's original. While del Toro receives a producer credit (one of many), Pacific Rim: Uprising has little of his fervor and spark. Writer-director Steven S. DeNight cut his teeth in TV, largely as executive producer on Daredevil, Spartacus:War of the Damned, and Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. So he's well-familiar with orchestrating mayhem, and Pacific Rim: Uprising is a great career stepping stone. It's very shrewdly aimed at the overseas box office, which is where the original made the lion's share of it's bank. The same things's clearly working here, so it's pretty certain the film will be seen as a success for DeKnight. He may not be Guillermo, but he's no slouch, and he's definitely a cat to watch.
But be advised, this Pacific Rim has a very different overall tone than the first film. John Boyega (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) stars as the son of Idris Elba's Stacker Pentecost character. But he's more of a rascal. He's had scrapes with the law, and his time at the Jaeger Academy flight school didn't go too well. Casting Boyega is another really smart move, as his charisma pretty much carries the picture. Co-star Scott Eastwood seems pretty lost in comparison. Boyega seems to be making sure every scene he's in has energy and fun. He's definitely the MVP here. Early on, Boyega's Jake Pentecost meets a young chipmunk-cheeked thief/salvager (Caileee Spaeny), who's so plucky she's managed to build her own Jaeger (!) out of spare parts that she's named (weary sigh) "Scrapper." Right there, that ought to tell you where we're heading, and who our core demographic is.
Because Pacific Rim: Uprising is basically a kid's movie. Of course Jake gets pulled back into duty at the Jaeger academy, and the young upstart-orphan Jaeger-maker goes along, too, where she joins a band of other young teens, training to be the next generation of Jaeger pilots. So there is a lot of teen acting going on here. At times, the film's tone feels more like a Disney Channel or Power Rangers episode. Nothing wrong with that, as you can actually feel pretty good sending your kids to see this one - it's just way less adult than the original.
Burn Gorman and Charlie Day reprise their scientist characters from the first film, and both do a great job, contributing to the surprise quotient of the film's plot, which is more unpredictable than you might expect. Cinematographer Dan Mindel (Star Trek, Star Trek: Into Darkness and Star Wars: The Force Awakens) makes things look gritty and dynamic, and where a large percentage of the Kaiju-fighting chaos of the original was set at night, here much of the carnage and destruction is in broad daylight. The Jaeger and Kaiju designs are the real stars of this show, and they don't disappoint. You've got serious robot eye candy happening here. Though I did feel that here the Jaegers often move too fast and less realistically than they should. But, sequel - bigger, faster, yadda-yadda. The 3rd act finale sure doesn't disappoint. You want giant robots fighting colossal monsters, you've come to the right place. But if you're looking for more adult and intense monster mayhem, Kong: Skull Island is probably going to be more your cup of tea.
So grab the kids, and manage your expectations accordingly. But Pacific Rim: Uprising is definitely fun. And sometimes fun is enough.
But know going in this is nowhere near the magic pulp explosion of the great Guillermo del Toro's original. While del Toro receives a producer credit (one of many), Pacific Rim: Uprising has little of his fervor and spark. Writer-director Steven S. DeNight cut his teeth in TV, largely as executive producer on Daredevil, Spartacus:War of the Damned, and Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. So he's well-familiar with orchestrating mayhem, and Pacific Rim: Uprising is a great career stepping stone. It's very shrewdly aimed at the overseas box office, which is where the original made the lion's share of it's bank. The same things's clearly working here, so it's pretty certain the film will be seen as a success for DeKnight. He may not be Guillermo, but he's no slouch, and he's definitely a cat to watch.
But be advised, this Pacific Rim has a very different overall tone than the first film. John Boyega (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) stars as the son of Idris Elba's Stacker Pentecost character. But he's more of a rascal. He's had scrapes with the law, and his time at the Jaeger Academy flight school didn't go too well. Casting Boyega is another really smart move, as his charisma pretty much carries the picture. Co-star Scott Eastwood seems pretty lost in comparison. Boyega seems to be making sure every scene he's in has energy and fun. He's definitely the MVP here. Early on, Boyega's Jake Pentecost meets a young chipmunk-cheeked thief/salvager (Caileee Spaeny), who's so plucky she's managed to build her own Jaeger (!) out of spare parts that she's named (weary sigh) "Scrapper." Right there, that ought to tell you where we're heading, and who our core demographic is.
Because Pacific Rim: Uprising is basically a kid's movie. Of course Jake gets pulled back into duty at the Jaeger academy, and the young upstart-orphan Jaeger-maker goes along, too, where she joins a band of other young teens, training to be the next generation of Jaeger pilots. So there is a lot of teen acting going on here. At times, the film's tone feels more like a Disney Channel or Power Rangers episode. Nothing wrong with that, as you can actually feel pretty good sending your kids to see this one - it's just way less adult than the original.
Burn Gorman and Charlie Day reprise their scientist characters from the first film, and both do a great job, contributing to the surprise quotient of the film's plot, which is more unpredictable than you might expect. Cinematographer Dan Mindel (Star Trek, Star Trek: Into Darkness and Star Wars: The Force Awakens) makes things look gritty and dynamic, and where a large percentage of the Kaiju-fighting chaos of the original was set at night, here much of the carnage and destruction is in broad daylight. The Jaeger and Kaiju designs are the real stars of this show, and they don't disappoint. You've got serious robot eye candy happening here. Though I did feel that here the Jaegers often move too fast and less realistically than they should. But, sequel - bigger, faster, yadda-yadda. The 3rd act finale sure doesn't disappoint. You want giant robots fighting colossal monsters, you've come to the right place. But if you're looking for more adult and intense monster mayhem, Kong: Skull Island is probably going to be more your cup of tea.
So grab the kids, and manage your expectations accordingly. But Pacific Rim: Uprising is definitely fun. And sometimes fun is enough.
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