“Pacific Rim: Uprising” should have been left in the ocean.
While most sequels make an effort to innovate and build on the foundations of their predecessors, “Uprising” takes multiple steps in the wrong direction.
The story follows Finn, or John Boyega, from “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” as he (through movie magic) quickly goes from selling Jaeger parts on the black market to training recruits as an instructor for the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps. This isn’t the most implausible part of the film.
Finn, who goes by the name Jake Pentecost here, miraculously turns out to be the son of fallen hero Idris Elba, played by himself in the first film.
He also has a suspiciously different accent than during his adventures with Rose.
As to why Elba (Stacker Pentecost) never mentioned his son in the original — this is never answered.
Not much more can be said about the plot without diving into spoiler territory, but it left me scratching my head multiple times.
Mako Mori, played by Rinko Kikuchi, has far too little of a role despite being one of the original’s main characters.
Scott Eastwood essentially plays himself, which is not a first for his film career and likely will not be the last.
Watching Charlie Day, Dr. Newton “Newt” Geiszler in the film, speak Chinese is perhaps the worst scene, as it gave me flashbacks to “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” which I would have rather watched instead.
If you watched any of the multiple trailers released for “Pacific Rim: Uprising,” you know exactly how it ends. While there are a few twists and turns, it’s a shame that trailers have started revealing such key moments.
The finale could have been a nice surprise, but it loses most its spark when you already know what’s coming.
Gone is the magic of the first film, directed by Guillermo del Toro. While the original went to great lengths creating a sense of mounting dread and tension, those feelings are nowhere to be found here.
In its place is an almost two-hour nonsensical romp through various mundane locations that feels a lot more like “Transformers” and even “Power Rangers” than it probably should.
At one point I almost expected the theme song “Go Go Power Rangers” to kick in, and it might have made the movie ten times better.
“Pacific Rim” wasn’t the greatest film in the world, but it made giant robotic machines fighting alien monsters exciting.
It’s a shame director Stephen S. DeKnight strayed from what made the first film so good.
Del Toro ensured everything felt real, or at least as real as a fantasy movie can be. Every fight was filmed from some kind of realistic perspective, be it from ground or from a helicopter or rooftop.
This perspective resulted in more of a grounded feeling, aided further by always maintaining a sense of scale. Jaegers are giant, slow moving machines in the original, and when they stumble and fall it is reflected in the environment around them.
But what sticks out like a sore thumb the most is the color palette. “Uprising” drops the dark, dreary weather in favor of clear skies and colorful machines.
I don’t think this change was the end of the world, but for someone familiar with the first film it definitely left a bad taste in my mouth.
Having brighter, more cheerful colors immediately tells the viewer they’re in for a wildly different experience, one that is more family friendly as well.
If you have free time, “Pacific Rim: Uprising” is a decent way to spend an afternoon. It’s still a fun film if you’re willing to turn off your brain for a few hours, but there are better options currently in theaters.
What I suggest is booting up the original and sadly thinking about what could have been.
Max Rothenberg can be reached at [email protected]