Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018)

Review

111min

Genre:     Action, Adventure, Disaster, Sci-fi

Director:  Steven S. DeKnight

Cast:       John Boyega, Scott Eastwood, Cailee Spaeny…and more

Writers:   Steven S. DeKnight, Emily Carmichael, Kira Snyder… and more

-Synopsis-

A decade after the giant ‘Kaiju’ monsters were defeated and the breach from whence they came was closed, fallen ‘Jaeger’ robot program hero ‘Stacker Pentecost’s’ troubled son is called upon to live up to his father’s legacy, unravelling a conspiracy and leading the fight against a dangerous rogue Jaeger . . . and a more formidable foe which threatens to return.

Five years after Guillermo del Toro captured the entertaining essence of Japanese Kaijū film for a modern western audience in ‘Pacific Rim’, Legendary Pictures turns to Universal pictures and TV writer/producer-turned-director Steven S. DeKnight for his feature debut, to transform this ‘robots v monsters’ blockbuster into a millennial franchise to rival another certain giant robot series—with lamentably similar results.

John Boyega stars as Jaeger pilot drop-out turned hustler ‘Jake Pentecost’, co-opted by his adoptive sister and program leader ‘Mako Mori’ (Rinko Kikuchi) to abandon his dodgy ways and return to duty, alongside former fellow ranger ‘Nate’ (Scott Eastwood) and talented young cadet ‘Amara’ (Cailee Spaeny). When a mysterious unidentified Jaeger brings destruction back to Earth’s cities, the Jaeger pilots must unite with program scientists ‘Gottlieb’ (Burn Gorman) and ‘Geiszler’ (Charlie Day) and a Chinese conglomerate, to unravel an Earthly conspiracy which threatens to unleash an even greater inter-dimensional threat.

In a bid to snatch some of those ‘Transformers’ international box office dollars, Legendary Pictures (now owned by Chinese conglomerate Wanda) takes an already multi-national story and adds a distinctly Chinese flavour, creating as broad and mass appeal a product as possible, while targeting millennials around the globe—and when John Boyega and Scott Eastwood are two of the most senior cast members and the stars of the show, you know this is a young man’s game.

But with del Toro withdrawing as writer/director and remaining as a producer only (one of more than ten), and with all the script re-writes, DeKnight and his writers somehow manage to suck out much of the fun and virtually all of the charm and humour from 2013’s ‘Pacific Rim’. What remains in this momentously disappointing if not surprising sequel, is a flashy yet run-of-the-mill $150 million CGI blockbuster which proves as soulless as anything in the Michael Bay franchise it tries to emulate—even managing to almost treat the basic ‘robots v monsters’ premise which made the original fun as an afterthought, only to then struggle to atone with an epic film-saving finale.

Make no mistake ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ has its share of big explosive action and impressive set-pieces, plus some slick sci-fi cinematography from Dan Mindel (Star Trek, Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and the quality of production design that a huge budget can afford. But there’s nothing remotely original or impressive enough to stand out in a congested action-blockbuster crowd, and there are far too many moments of cringeworthy emotion and too many clichéd character arcs—which when added together actually make the film dull, where at worse it should be silly but enjoyable. But ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ just takes itself too seriously and offers little in return.

Even beyond the constraints of being a sequel, this is undeniably an unimaginative film. Not only will it feel generally familiar as it recycles both character and story tropes and styles, but it may also prove more directly derivative to some audiences—not only clearly ‘borrowing’ freely from the ‘Transformers’ franchise, but also featuring some narrative echoes of ‘Iron Man 2’ and the ‘Independence Day’ films . . . among others.

In his first real lead role in a major Hollywood film, Boyega struggles to shine amongst the mayhem, the ill-judged serious tone of the film, and the attempt to balance it out with some paltry comedic moments, resulting in his personality being lost in the grind—which highlights the crucial role his fellow actors and good writing played in his irresistible ‘Star Wars’ charisma.

Yet for all its many shortcomings and an inferiority to an original which was certainly no masterpiece itself, if you set your expectations low, this big clangy mindless blockbuster has just about enough action and an epic enough conclusion do deliver a couple of hours of watchable escapist entertainment—and despite being hamstrung by the narrative, Boyega’s charms just manage to seep through the carnage and breathe some life into the show.

The Bottom Line…

Big and loud tentpole entertainment at its most prescriptive and least ambitious, ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ delivers enough thrills and extravagant action to make it watchable, but strips away charm and genuine humour, not to mention originality, while managing to squander its star’s charisma and failing to live up to the very attainable level of the original—placing it in the growing but lucrative pile of forgettable blockbusters and franchises.

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