The lackluster sequel shies away from horror and embraces a Saturday morning cartoon vibe
I’m an unabashed fan of the original Pacific Rim, an action spectacular that came from the mind of visionary director Guillermo Del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Crimson Peak, The Shape of Water). While flawed, its creativity, scale, and heart won me over, and despite a lukewarm response stateside, overseas its box office was notable enough to prompt a sequel. Heightened reception in China certainly informed some of the creative choices that fed into the followup, Uprising, with del Toro passing the reigns over to rookie director Steven S. DeKnight and his newer, more youthful leads to put their own stamp on the franchise.
Synopsis
Ten years after the events of the first film, the Kaiju return in Pacific Rim Uprising with a new deadly threat that reignites the conflict between these otherworldly monsters of mass destruction and Jaegers, the human-piloted super-machines that were built to vanquish them. Directed by Steven S. DeKnight, John Boyega (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) stars as the rebellious Jake Pentecost, a once-promising Jaeger pilot whose legendary father gave his life to secure humanity’s victory against the monstrous Kaiju. Jake has since abandoned his training only to become caught up in a criminal underworld. But when an even more unstoppable threat is unleashed to tear through our cities and bring the world to its knees, he is given one last chance to live up to his father’s legacy. Jake is joined by gifted rival pilot Lambert (The Fate of the Furious’ Scott Eastwood), 15-year-old Jaeger hacker Amara (newcomer Cailee Spaeny), returning veterans Charlie Day (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”), Rinko Kikuchi (Pacific Rim), Burn Gorman (The Dark Knight Rises) and a talented crew of fiercely young cadets.
Where the original Pacific Rim made me feel like a 8 year old kid, Uprising feels like it was made for, and possibly by, an 8 year old kid. The original’s unnerving and thrilling world building and subtle vein of horror that ran through it is absent here. Instead it ramps up the cartoony nature, feeling more like the old Power Rangers shows, with hints of Bay’s exhausting Transformer series. The unnerving quality that del Toro brought to the original is missing; in his stead is Steven S. DeKnight for his directorial debut, who along with Emily Carmichael, Kira Snyder, and T.S. Nowlin wrote the feature. The script retroactively over-elaborates the original, services the burgeoning Chinese interest in the franchise, and introduces a predominantly new cast. The film barely has a chance to breathe, and barrels along thorough a series of clunky moments and tropes interspersed with robot-on-monster and robot-on-robot action. The goofier nature of the film is reflected in its visuals — gone are the moody, atmospheric standoffs, and in their place is a brightly lit, garish spectacle. It’s undeniably big, colorful, dumb fun at times, but the effects, like the script, lack anything in the way of weight to make it truly memorable.
There are things to appreciate though. The audience surrogate this time out is an improvement on the vacuum that was Charlie Hunnam. John Boyega’s enthusiasm and charm is as infectious as ever, and he offers a great heir to Idris Elba. Don’t fret, you still get Scott Eastwood in a supporting role here to satisfy your hunky, generic male needs. Sharing top billing is Cailee Spaeny as plucky young genius Amara, a girl who after building her own diminutive Jaeger is drawn into serving in the defense forces. She has a great presence, and there is something to be said for reframing the franchise as Pacific Rim: The New Class, but again, it’s an idea that really isn’t fleshed out, nor given the focus it needs to flourish. A film about training a new generation, bringing in the ideas of the shared consciousness pilot tech (barely mentioned), and investing in this could have been great; instead it’s one of a few components thrown in with little development. We do have a few cast members back from the original. Uprising ramps up the silliness of Drs. Newt Geiszler and Hermann Gottlieb (Charlie Day and Burn Gorman, respectively), while cheaply servicing the returning Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) character leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Her step-sister relationship to Jake offered an emotional backbone the film sorely needs in its later stages. There’s nothing in the film that reaches the level of anguish and terror of the flashback of Mako in the original, nothing to make the stakes feel real or personal in anyway. Just a cluttered CGI spectacle lacking soul. Uprising is perhaps most reminiscent of another ill received sequel of the past few years, Independence Day Resurgence. It’s just another polished dud that seems to only exist to try and setup a third entry to the series, one where we take the fight to the invaders. Perhaps the makers should have been more focused on delivering a solid entry to the series before thinking about the next one.
The Package
Uprising is a barrage of colorful action and CGI, and the Blu-ray delivers in terms of picture quality. Sharp visuals, vibrant colors, impressive detail. The quality of the transfer is undeniable. The disc is also stuffed with a huge amount of special features:
- Deleted Scenes with Commentary by Director Steven S. DeKnight
- Hall of Heroes — John Boyega takes us through the awesome weaponry and cutting-edge enhancements of the latest generation of Jaegers featured in the film.
- Bridge to Uprising — The cast and crew discuss how the world of Pacific Rim has changed in the ten years since the events of the original film.
- The Underworld of Uprising — Humanity won the Kaiju War, but every war has casualties. John Boyega and Steven S. DeKnight give a tour of the coastal “Relief Zones.”
- Becoming Cadets — Step into the Shatterdome, and learn the grueling physical and mental preparation required of the young actors who portrayed the PPDC cadets.
- Unexpected Villain — Learn the secret reason that turned one of the most beloved heroes of the original film into a villain obsessed with humanity’s destruction.
- Next Level Jaegers — The cast and crew discuss the amazing technological advances of the Jaeger program in the years since the events of the original film.
- I Am Scrapper — Actress Cailee Spaeny shares the backstory of Scrapper, Amara’s incredible self-built Jaeger, and its many unique abilities.
- Going Mega — Filmmakers take us through the technical and creative challenges of creating the most deadly threat the Pan Pacific Defense Corp has ever faced: the Mega Kaiju!
- Secrets of Shao — Meet the woman behind Shao Industries. Actress Tian Jing shares her insights on the enigmatic tech tycoon Liwen Shao.
- Mako Returns — Actress Rinko Kikuchi and director Steven S. DeKnight explain the significance of Mako Mori’s return and her importance to the events of Pacific Rim Uprising.
- Feature Commentary with Director Steven S. DeKnight
- Also includes DVD and digital versions of the film
The Bottom Line
Uprising is certainly lacking the soul of the original Pacific Rim, but if all you want is colorful, dumb fun, then it’s a sequel that’s got you covered. It offers some interesting new ideas to the series, but they’re too scattered and undeveloped to strengthen the film. Fans will be more than satisfied with this release, which delivers impressive visuals and a wealth of special features.
Pacific Rim Uprising is available on 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD from June 19th, 2018.