'Pacific Rim: Uprising' Brings The Same Ol' Fight To A New Generation
- Starring John Boyega, Scott Eastwood, Cailee Spaeny, Burn Gorman, Charlie Day, Tian Jing
- Rated PG-13
- Action, Sci-fi
- Run time: 1 hr, 51 min
- Directed by Steven S. DeKnight
- In theaters March 23, 2018
The first Pacific Rim managed to stand out a bit among the Transformers of the world, though there isn't a whole lot of difference between the concepts, and the sequel helps realize just why that is: the cast. The original featured Idris Elba, who seems to automatically elevate a film just by existing near it, and this one seems to bank on the use of John Boyega as Elba's son - and it kind of works.
Don't get me wrong, it's still the standard monster-vs-robot fare that you'd expect from the trailer, but there's something about Boyega's charm and his banter with Scott Eastwood's rather prickly character that does make this seem a bit more than the normal action movie. But when you boil it down, that's what it is: a run-of-the-mill, sci-fi-adjacent, explosion-filled epic. And in the big picture, it isn't really that different from the original.
On the off chance someone is reading this who hasn't seen the original Pacific Rim, I'll avoid spoiling it for you. Basically, there are some monsters that seem to have found their way into the world, and an elite team of soldiers man these giant robots called Jaegers to defeat them. Each robot requires two soldiers to basically mind meld and control it, and we hope the robots beat the aliens. Now, you know the basic premise of both films. Which is both good and bad.
If you loved the first one, you'll probably enjoy Uprising, which feels more like a reboot than a sequel at times. The stakes seem to be a little bit higher, but you practically don't even need to watch the first one to get a handle on what's going down with the second generation. The acting, script and plot are nothing to complain about, though you won't be writing home about it either. There's something to be said for an action movie that doesn't star a superhero, however, so Uprising can definitely count succeeding in that respect as a win.