I have never seen a Transformers movie, but I imagine that Pacific Rim: Uprising is more for those fans than if you liked Pacific Rim. Sequels are rarely as good or better than the original so Pacific Rim: Uprising isn’t exactly disappointing, but it is not satisfying either. Guillermo del Toro only wrote and produced the sequel, but he did not direct it so maybe that is the crucial difference. I’m surprised by my tepid reception of the sequel because I actually like Steven S. DeKnight’s work, but del Toro is a one of a kind. The movie executives should have waited for del Toro to get some free time to direct this film.
Pacific Rim: Uprising takes place a few years after the original and shows how people responded to the end of the Kaiju crisis when a new threat emerges, and unexpectedly the call is coming from inside the house, but not who you think is being set up to be the villain. The movie needed to focus more on John Boyega, who uses his British accent and is perfect and hot as an irreverent character. In contrast to the first film, the Jaeger pilots are boring and interchangeable. Most are children! There is a random potential love interest who appears to remind people that even in the future with the threat of an interdimensional invasion, there is only one sexually available woman for guys to compete for. What happened to the white guy from the original? No one even mentions him, but at least Mako Mori comes back. One aspect of being a pilot is that you can physically do the tricks that your Jaeger will eventually do yet we see no training scenes. Kids, I’m going to need you to explain how a whip became your weapon of choice. The mace and swords are at least weapons. The sword move is still cool. If I’m honest, I was disappointed that we got more Jaeger versus Jaeger violence, not Kaiju versus Jaeger, although the explanation for that new tension was satisfying, but needed to be fully teased out. There was a missed intersection of horror and sci-fi.
It is possible that I would have appreciated Pacific Rim: Uprising more if I had rewatched the original before going to the theaters. I only had a vague memory of the scientists’ relationship, and they are the real movers and shakers in this narrative. The final fight scene is great and features one of my favorite geological phenomenon. Still the whole enterprise felt empty in comparison to my memories of the first film that felt thick with personality and nuance while simultaneously being guilt free fun.
Pacific Rim: Uprising is forgettable entertainment and pales in comparison to the original, which is must see sci-fi greatness. Even a completist such as myself would suggest that you skip it if you are looking for a little more than massive confrontations between machines and monsters.