'Pacific Rim: Uprising' Review

In the decade since the Pan Pacific Defense Corps sealed the inter-dimensional breach and ended the Kaiju War, humanity has continued developing Jaeger technology as a contingency to combat Kaiju. Pacific Rim: Uprising drifts alongside Jake Pentecost, a once-promising pilot-turned-petty scrapper whose father heroically sacrificed himself to ensure the monstrous Kaiju would be defeated once and for all. When Jake is caught with fellow scrapper Amara Namani, the two are presented with the choice of either joining the corps or going to jail. They choose the former, so Jake is then tasked with training a new generation of Jaeger pilots (including Amara) alongside rival ranger Nate Lambert. However, everything changes once a rogue Jaeger bursts onto the scene and prompts a Kaiju resurgence.

Did that plot synopsis seem needlessly convoluted? Well, I made my best effort to streamline the plot and that long-winded paragraph was all I could conjure... Pacific Rim: Uprising is in fact needlessly convoluted, which is actually odd when considering its predecessor (Pacific Rim) met the criteria of a unique flourishing franchise by being simultaneously stylish and simplistic. Visionary director Guillermo del Toro was largely responsible for that film's success since he was passionate about the project and well aware of the reality he was making a "B" movie centered on mechs fighting monsters. Unfortunately del Toro didn't return to direct Uprising, so the sequel sorely lacks the creative spark that made the first film special. Instead, Steven DeKnight took command of the franchise for his feature length film debut while del Toro went on to win a few Oscars for his work on The Shape of Water. Not a bad trade-off on del Toro's end, but del Toro's absence lead Uprising to become a far less interesting, commoditized imitation of the original so it was franchise fans who wound up suffering. On the bright side, The Shape of Water got made!

In case you couldn't already tell, Pacific Rim: Uprising pales in comparison to Pacific Rim in just about every way imaginable. While I'll admit that John Boyega's a bright spot in the cluttered cast, the visual effects are noteworthy, and the action sequences can be fun at times, Uprising's plagued by an onslaught of issues that had me dreading the possibility it was covertly Transformers 6. Michael Bay wasn't involved in this production whatsoever, but I'd have totally believed anyone who told me he was because this film is full of everything people dread about the latest Transformers installments. The humor's very juvenile and painfully unfunny, the fight sequences amount to bots bashing monsters through skyscrapers, there was occasionally a heavy emphasis on slo-motion, and they even incorporated a young girl determined to join the fight just like in Transformers: The Last Knight. Transformers wasn't the only film franchise that came to mind while I was watching though... There were several startling similarities to Independence Day: Resurgence and Power Rangers (2017) that I won't go into for the sake of length...

Now, lets take a second to talk about the sloppy script written by Emily Carmichael, Kira Snyder, T.S. Nowlin, and Steven DeKnight. The general turn of events was pretty predictable, but there were numerous occasions where DeKnight and the screenwriters presented an interesting subversion of expectations only to turn around and surprise the audience again by going along with precisely what you thought the "twist" was all along. I wouldn't mind this if it only happened once or twice, but it happened fairly often and simply grew annoying. The characters were also written fairly inconsistently as they'd frequently act differently than they did earlier without any underlying development or growth to explain why. The writers established mental roadblocks setup for the characters that weren't really dealt with at all, and one was a direct rip-off of the first that I won't expand upon to avoid spoiling anything for you. 

If there was one thing that made the entire experience unbearable though, it would have to be the cringeworthy attempts at comedic relief. One prime example is an entire scene which takes place in a kitchen where John Boyega's character is making himself a bowel of ice cream and adding various toppings while speaking to Scott Eastwood's character. It was one of the strangest scenes I've seen in a theater so far this year. The ice cream itself wasn't what was weird though... Sure, it felt out of place and unnecessary by itself, but the way it was heavily incorporated into the scene to cheekily function as a comedic device was really awkward in execution. It was laughably stupid, so I guess it achieved its purpose? Don't even get me started on the dreadful dialogue sprinkled throughout though... 

Anyways, I had no idea that a battle between monsters and mechs could become so uninteresting so quickly, but Steven DeKnight proved it's possible. Uprising's aesthetic isn't very dynamic from a visual standpoint since the film has a very flat color palette, so the fight sequences became stale quite quickly. While the action fits the fun formulaic mold audiences may be satisfied with, it's all incomprehensibly edited and I was never awestruck by any radically cool visuals, so the action is also a step-down from the first in terms of impressive spectacle. With that being said, I'm not a big fan of the sleeker Jaeger design compared to the previous rough, rugged look and the Kaiju creature design seemed to be uninspired in comparison as well. Another troublesome component was that the ending was poorly paced. In the third act, everyone takes their sweet time to really react while the world is on the brink of destruction, so you're left wondering how the Kaiju didn't successfully destroy the world in the time it takes for them to act.

As a charismatic lead, John Boyega is undoubtedly one of the sole saving graces of Pacific Rim: Uprising. It's such a shame he was stuck in such a crummy film though. Surrounding Boyega are a bunch of actors who are either obviously inexperienced or remarkably bland. Scott Eastwood's Nate is as stale as can be. Newcomer Cailee Spaeny seems to have potential to emerge as a quality actress in the years to come, but I found her character to be kind of annoying. Just about every other cast member proved to be unmemorable due to lacking development or screen time.

One thing I won't be forgetting about Pacific Rim: Uprising anytime soon though was how obnoxiously over the top Charlie Day was in the role of Dr. Newton Geiszler. I think the writing's largely to blame for this since such his character went in such a strange direction carrying over from the first film. Day did what he could with the material by trying to ham it up, but there's only so much one can do to try and save a sinking ship.

I'm sure many may be interested in seeing Pacific Rim: Uprising purely to watch Jaegers and Kaiju duke it out, but if that's the case, you'd be better off staying home and watching the first film. Pacific Rim: Uprising appears to be another attempt to commercialize a promising franchise in hopes of setting up several sequels. If that's the case, a more apt title would have been Pacific Rim: Downfall because my interest in future franchise entries is now at an all time low.

Film Assessment: D

Throwback Thursday Review: 'Pacific Rim'

I'm reviewing Pacific Rim to tie in with the release of its sequel, Pacific Rim: Uprising. Since March is almost over, I'm going to ahead and fill you in on the reviews you can expect to see through April, but I've made some changes to the previously outlined schedule because my finals are the same week that Avengers: Infinity War will be released. In order to get that review out as soon as possible for my readers, I'm easing my schedule by not reviewing anything else that week. Now that that's all cleared up, reviews you'll likely see through April include Throwback Thursday Reviews of Jurassic Park, Ocean's Eleven (2001), and The Avengers, a Triple-R for Avengers: Age of Ultron, and new reviews of Pacific Rim: Uprising, Ready Player One, Isle of Dogs, A Quiet Place, Rampage, and Avengers: Infinity War. 

'Pacific Rim' Review

Pacific Rim thrusts audiences into a far-flung future where humanity has been besieged by monstrous sea creatures called Kaiju. As the beasts emerged from a dimensional rift in the Pacific Ocean, mankind developed massive robot fighting machines to combat the Kaiju. These mechs, dubbed Jaegers, were designed to be piloted by two humans locked together in a neural bridge. However, even with weaponized robots at their disposal, humanity's efforts to extinguish the Kaiju three has proved futile. As the Kaiju approach for their final strike, a former pilot and untrained trainee pair up to pilot an old, obsolete Jaeger in a last ditch effort to save the world from an impending apocalypse.

Pacific Rim is helmed by the recent Academy Award winning director Guillermo del Toro with a screenplay co-written by del Toro and Travis Beacham. When perusing through del Toro's filmography, you'll quickly take notice that he has a knack for spearheading creature-features so it only makes sense that he would have felt drawn to a blockbuster of this nature. It's about robots fighting sea creatures after all... Which is precisely why he was the perfect fit for the project. 

Del Toro's passion seeps through every frame thanks to the exceptional work of cinematographer Guillermo Navarro and the various visual effects artists at del Toro's disposal. They each ensure the neon-infused atmosphere envisioned by del Toro was executed to the fullest. When researching the film to see if it was nominated for any Oscars, I was shocked to learn it wasn't nominated for Best Visual Effects in 2013 because I was sure it would have been, and it certainly should have been. Beyond its impressive visuals, Pacific Rim also features an epic score composed by Ramin Djawadi and some solid performances. However, the film falls a little short in the story department. 

Despite a clear effort to establish the core characters as empathetic individuals, they weren't fully fleshed out enough for me to invest myself completely in their struggle. Sure, I want humanity to emerge triumphant... But not for anything the characters did to draw my interest. Mainly because I too am human. Most of the characters are little more than two-dimensional avatars when all is said-and-done because so many of them lack a personality. With all that being said, it's difficult to fault del Toro considering he's well aware that this is a "B" monster movie all about sheer spectacle. 

For every criticism I could conjure for Pacific Rim, I'm able to come up with at least twenty more reasons why Pacific Rim is awesome as an action-oriented blockbuster. The concept behind it all is incredibly interesting, the Kaiju and Jaeger designs are unique, and the fight sequences are incredible. It's just the characters and story that are lacking. 

Leading the rock 'em sock 'em ensemble are Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi, who each imbue their characters with the essential attributes. Hunnam portrays Raleigh as a loose cannon while Kikuchi's Mako is a troubled trainee. Even though they fit their respective roles well, I've never quite bought their romantic connection as there's not much chemistry between the two of them. The romance then feels forced into the narrative for the sake of including one.

Elsewhere, Idris Elba's magnetic screen presence as Marshal Stacker Pentecost positions him to be a cut above most movie military officials, but his stance as the most dynamic character only aids him in being the standout scene stealer.

Meanwhile, Charlie Day and Burn Gorman play a pair of eccentric geniuses whose silly side quest seems to be a contrived scheme to obtain pertinent information. Other cast members deserving of a shout out include Ron Perlman, Max Martini, and Robert Kazinski who all manage to make a unique impact with varying screen time. 

Despite adhering to the nuts-and-bolts of a traditional "B" monster movie, Pacific Rim remains an exciting popcorn movie that will scratch your itch to watch gigantic Jaegers punch it out with enormous Kaiju. While it underwhelms on a storytelling level, the interested audience members probably weren't even asking for that to begin with. 

Film Assessment: B