Movie Review: “Pacific Rim: Uprising” offers more robots vs. monsters action

Movie Review: “Pacific Rim: Uprising” (PG-13)

When recent Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water”) released “Pacific Rim” back in 2013, its less-than-stellar U.S. box-office total led very few to believe that a sequel would even be in the cards. International box-office revenue, however, suggested there was still plenty of room for another huge slice of giant robots vs. giant monsters action. Thus, five years later, “Pacific Rim: Uprising” has been unleashed upon the world.

Taking place 10 years after the events in “Pacific Rim,” Earth is now free of the colossal monsters that wreaked havoc on our planet thanks to the collective, ass-kicking effort put forth by the giant robot military squad that was Team Jaeger. Of course, in Hollywood you can’t keep a big monster down, and in “Uprising,” the Kaiju are back, forcing a new Jaeger crew into action. This team is led by Jake Pentecost (John Boyega), son of Stacker (Idris Elba) from the first film, and as this Jaeger-parts thief points out at the beginning of “Pacific Rim: Uprising,” he is not his father. Of course, through the aid of a scrappy 15-year-old hacker (Cailee Spaney), rival Nate Lambert (Scott Eastwood), and a team of new dedicated Jaeger pilots, Earth might just have a shot at survival … again!

In some circles, the first “Pacific Rim” was written off as another variation of bombastic, “Transformers” style filmmaking. But that’s a bit of an unfair comparison, because if you take the robots out of the equation, del Toro’s movie has a joyful spirit about it that elevates it above the lazy, noisy, obnoxious stylings of Michael Bay’s hugely popular “Transformers” movies. And in fact, throughout “Pacific Rim,” you get the sense that del Toro is just a big kid playing in that sandbox from his youth.

Unfortunately, director Steven S. DeKnight is no Guillermo del Toro, and despite a handful of gleeful moments that are sure to make the 10 year old within giggle with delight, “Pacific Rim: Uprising” lacks the all-out personality and joyful spirit of its immensely entertaining predecessor. And technically, it isn’t in the same league, either. The staging of the massive battles, while gigantic in scope, aren’t as skillfully constructed. They simply lack the striking attention to detail.

In terms of story, the majority of “Pacific Rim: Uprising” plays as a retread, right down to the cheesy dialogue, although it should be noted that there is an intriguing plot development regarding a rogue Jaeger. And the film also makes a playful effort at doing something a bit different with a returning Dr. Newton Geiszler (Charlie Day.) In both cases, though, neither of these plot developments is as intriguing as it should be.

If “Pacific Rim: Uprising” gets anything truly right, it’s in the casting of John Boyega as the film’s lead protagonist. With all due respect to “Sons of Anarchy” star Charlie Hunnam, he was the weak link in the first picture. While Jake Pentecost is hardly a character of emotional complexity and depth, Boyega brings a ton of personality and energy to the role. It’s the same sort of infectiously likable spirit this terrific actor displayed in “The Force Awakens,” and it goes a long way to keep this movie more entertaining than it might have been otherwise. Boyega is a standout amongst a cast that doesn’t have a lot of standouts,  although Spaney does have a few bright moments to speak of a spunky youngster who wants to do her part in helping save the world.

“Pacific Rim: Uprising” is far from terrible. At its worst, it isn’t as entertaining as its predecessor, nor is it as rousing as the predictable but charming Hugh Jackman-headlined “Reel Steel,” but at its best its still considerably stronger than the “Transformers” sequels. And if you’re a fan of rock em’ sock em’ robots vs. monsters action, you’ll most likely walk away entertained. That said, don’t hold your breath for the third chapter that “Uprising” so predictably sets up, because it’s not likely to happen. But then, we all said the same thing after the first one came out, so what the hell do I know?

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