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Pacific Rim: Uprising Story: Jake Pentecost, son of Stacker Pentecost, leads a new generation of Jaeger pilots, against a new Kaiju threat.
Pacific Rim: Uprising Review: Picking up a decade after the events of its predecessor, ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ starts off with an intriguing angle – to explore life after a near global catastrophe. But it soon reverts to the old threats, as the Kaiju return to wreak havoc. There are more than a few new recruits this time around: Cailee Spaeny’s Amara Namani is a valuable addition and seems to be a promising young talent to watch out for. This can’t be said about Scott Eastwood who plays a guy so reminiscent of his father Clint Eastwood; you almost hope it’s a joke. It also doesn’t help that Nate Lambert has little to no chemistry with his co-pilot Jake Pentecost.
The usually charming John Boyega plays Jake who is trying to carve his own individuality, away from his father’s fame. However, there are none of the nuances of ‘identity crisis’ seen here. Sure, he eventually gives the rousing speech expected before an apocalyptic event, but it ends up being too little, too late. Charlie Day is back as Dr Newton Geiszler, and his character is given a lot more to do beyond a nerdy and comical genius, but the transition feels rather convenient than justified. Burn Gorman’s Dr Hermann Gotliebb seems to be merely going through the motions.
The humour in this sequel is terribly forced as it focuses mostly on franchise-building pegs at the cost of storytelling basics. The movie seems hellbent on reminding you that it’s an action blockbuster every 5 minutes or so with battle sequences that jump right off the screen, as they should in 3D. This is the only reason to watch this on the biggest screen around. Devoid of the heart and soul of its predecessor, ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ aims to please hardcore fans of massive monster versus robot fights. Those seeking any depth in their action films, better look elsewhere.
