Pacific Rim: Uprising

Watch Movies TV -***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion (or other commenters), that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching! It was a tad strange to find out that the uprising had to do with the acid reflux the Jaegers were experiencing.



Pacific Rim:  Uprising – 3 out of 5

I really, REALLY enjoy the film Pacific Rim.  It was a sci-fi action spectacular that involved giant robots fighting giant monsters and it was all delivered in a visually appealing way and by the darkly creative director/writer Guillermo del Toro.  Since it arrived, I desperately wanted a sequel (specifically one that involved a post-credit sequence that shows Gipsy Danger showing up as Godzilla started some shit—but that will only be a dream…for now) and, for a while, it seemed like that wasn’t going to happen.  However, the pop culture gods smiled and welcomed Pacific Rim:  Uprising into the world.  While I didn’t find this one as awesome-sauce as the first one, I still found it pretty enjoyable.

Giant robots, is there anything more arousing?  I mean, cool?

Ten years after the breach between worlds was successfully closed, Jake Pentecost (John Boyega), the son of Stacker Pentecost, is making a unique living in this new world by selling Jaeger parts on the black market.  After he comes across a young girl named Amara Namani (Cailee Spaeny), he discovers that she has managed to scrap together parts to make a single-pilot Jaeger but this meeting results in some trouble and the two are given the choice to go to jail or join the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps.  Jake becomes an instructor and is reunited with his former co-pilot; Nate Lambert (Scott Eastwood), while Amara becomes a cadet.  After a mysterious battle with a rogue Jaeger suddenly occurs, it is decided that a drone program that will eliminate pilots will be put into place but the program goes unstable and are suddenly destroying all opposition and trying to reopen the breach.  Now Jake must lead a small team of recruits and stop this uprising and, like his father, cancel the apocalypse.

"'sup?"

Pacific Rim:  Uprising, as far as sequels go, isn’t disappointing at all.  It fairs better than a lot of sequels do when scrutinized against what came before it but that doesn’t mean it stands on the same level with the first film.  The movie is, without a doubt, fun, action-packed and John Boyega is absolutely fantastic as the lead but it does have some setbacks that kinda/sorta made the whole feature feel a little cheaper than the universe’s previous experience.

A fun cameo for a certain fanbase.

I’m going to start with what I felt held the film back (and then end with a positive note).  For starters, the special effects feel a tad on the cheap and cartoony side.  Let me elaborate a little on this one because the special effects are still really good.  Nothing about the Jaegers or the Kaijus look bad—in fact, they look fantastic—however, there is a sense that they don’t look as real as the first film.  One thing about the first film is how life-like the Jaegers appeared and how their existence felt possible because of their design and how there were presented and represented within the film’s universe.  In an effort to up the ante, we see Jaeger action that is faster pace than the last time around and when this is combined with Jaeger designs that looked too crisp and clean and flashy (when compared to the grizzled previous models) there is a certain sense of artificialness that made all the special effects moments look and feel more like an anime series than a continuation of what came before.  All the special effects still look great but they all felt like they were missing the little details that made them feel real, authentic and a natural part of the surroundings.

It stepped on a LEGO.

Finally, the story has some elements to it that definitely feel very…um… “sequel-y.”  While the tale that Uprising is telling isn’t a bad one and it definitely offers up a nice look at the development of the world where man had to build giant robots to fight intergalactic monsters, there are points that feel like they were retconned into existence.  This feel mostly arrives from the new characters.  As much as I love Boyega, Jake had this feeling that he never existed at all before in this film’s universe and just sorta popped into existence with a backstory and history just suddenly there.  This feeling is definitely enhanced (and possibly even created) by the ham-fisted way backstory from the characters is inserted into the movie.  There’s a lot of dialogue where characters talk about themselves and their history, either separate or together, that feels very unnatural and like it exists only for exposition’s sake.  This isn’t absolutely terrible because a lot of properties do this but this dynamic does often feel mishandled and a tad sloppy.

*Insert It's Always Sunny reference here*

Now I’m going to focus on what I liked about Uprising…first off, the action is A LOT of fun.  Like, I had to capitalize “a lot” in order to show how fun it was.  While it goes against my complaint earlier, the action is fast-pace and very, very collateral damage heavy.  Yes, the first one had its moments where the Jaegers and Kaijus demolished whatever was around them but this time around it feels like no fucks are given and it’s a free for all.  Hell, buildings were literally used to try and stop a Kaiju and, while I thought it presented a cool action set piece and made for a fun visual moment, I couldn’t help but wonder how many innocent people our “heroes” recklessly murdered.  The finally aspect about the action that I really enjoyed was how most of it took place during the daylight hours.  Very often with giant monster movies, the epic battles take place at night (mostly due to special effects reasons) and seeing a fight in the broad daylight happen between a monster and a giant robot was very refreshing.

"Wait, there still might be people in there--ah, who cares?"

Someday, Boyega...someday we will be best friends.

Finally, some of the other elements of the sequel that I really enjoyed involved its use of humor, a nice surprise twist in the story and the performance of John Boyega.  The first film definitely had its funny moments and this one is not without its charm.  Sure, there are some very obvious gags but they present them in such an honest way that it was hard to not enjoy them—like Dad Jokes.  Additionally, and I’ll say this without getting into spoilers, the story has a nice development from the first film that results in a surprising twist that definitely made the sequel stand out (and I was shocked wasn’t given away in the trailer).  I will admit that this twist definitely needed some more attention and needed more development because it arrives sorta quickly and never really gets the resolution it required but it was still a nice addition.  Finally, John Boyega leads this film like a damn champ.  The man is very charismatic and talented and it shows in this film.  Sadly, his co-star Scott Eastwood isn’t on the same level as him so it feels like Boyega has to carry scenes that involve Clint’s son but he showed really fun chemistry with Cailee Spaeny.

Honestly, I would have been fine if they got rid of Eastwood's character early in the first act
and the rest was Boyega and Spaeny.

Pacific Rim:  Uprising has some problems and it is not as good as the first film…but, to be honest, I didn’t expect it to be.  Overall, the film is a lot of fun and is very exciting.  It boldly tries some new things with the universe and, while it might not have been entirely successful with them, I admire the production’s gamble and see these being items that will pay off greater in the long run with potential further sequels...which I hope to see at least another film so there's a trilogy.