Pacific Rim: Uprising - movie review
Pacific Rim: Uprising
Plot: Jake Pentecost, son of Stacker Pentecost, reunites with Mako Mori to lead a new generation of Jaeger pilots, including rival Lambert and 15-year-old hacker Amara, against a new Kaiju threat.
Cast: John Boyega, Scott Eastwood, Cailee Spaeny
Director: Steven S. DeKnight
Certificate: 12A (moderate violence, threat, injury detail, rude gesture)
Runtime: 1hr 51 mins
Release Date: Friday 23rd March 2018
Giant robots punching giant monsters in the face. What's not to love? Well, a fair bit if you're referring to Pacific Rim: Uprising. In 2013, the newly crowned Academy Award winning director, Guillermo Del Toro, debuted his most unexpected film yet. Pacific Rim, on paper, sounded like an absolute car crash waiting to happen. Everyone was thinking that it would result in a poor imitation of Power Rangers and Transformers as they battle a discounted version of Godzilla. However, as we soon came to realise, Del Toro had paid homage to the Saturday morning cartoons that we, as children, would run down in bewildered excitement to fixate upon. Yes, it was silly especially as our lead Jaeger swung a freighter like a baseball bat and deployed a sword from its back to slice a winged Kaiju but we had already committed to the film at that point and revelled in the silliness. Cut to almost five years later, Del Toro steps down from directing to a producer credit and is replaced by Daredevil showrunner, Steven S. DeKnight and the result is anything less than satisfactory.
 |
| Go Go Power Rangers!! |
Set a decade after the events of its predecessor, the world we are now introduced to is one of peace and security. The Kaiju have vanished and the Jaegers are the ultimate protection force. We meet Jake Pentecost (Boyega, who also produces the movie), the son of famed war hero, Stacker Pentecost played by Idris Elba in the original. Jake has distanced himself from the family name and is instead living a reckless life of parties and scrap heists. Through a series of unfortunate events, he bumps into a young rogue, Amara, played by fresh-faced newcomer, Cailee Spaeny. They're eventually embroiled in a conspiracy that could have disastrous consequences for the world as a new team of Jaegers and pilots must fight to save the future. If that sounds like every other bland sci-fi/action movie that's because it might as well be. Uprising is a very disappointing return to the franchise and not the sequel the fans need, want or deserve. If Del Toro's Pacific Rim was a rock and roll concert, Uprising is an illegal rave that bombards you with colour and action until you're too inoculated to care anymore. One of the most alluring aspects of the original was the design and creation of the Jaegers themselves. Del Toro made them feel very real and heavy with punches and steps taking their time as you feel the weight and grandeur of every robot. Here, that lived-in quality to the machines is almost non existent as they run, leap, jump and flip about with no sense of thought to the individual Jaegers themselves. In the first film, every Jaeger felt different and unique with their own sense of identity that was also due to the pilots in charge. Aside from Gypsy Avenger, I would not be able to name a single Jaeger nor their distinct pilots. The film separated them only through weapons whether it be dual swords, electric whip or gravity pull. This also has a knock-on effect to the visuals which suffer due to the bright daylight fights that begin to highlight flaws in bringing the Jaegers to life. On a brighter note, when the fights do happen, they are moderately entertaining even if they lack the spark from before. Early into the film, Gypsy is tasked with fighting a rogue Jaeger that attacks Sydney and their confrontation was the most thrilling in the film. When the Kaiju eventually appear (which is later than expected), the carnage that ensues is pure popcorn fuel but unless you've left your brain by the door, it's just a procession of noisy images and explosions that fall more in line with Michael Bay's Transformers.
 |
| When you have no friends so you have to hi-five and fist bump yourself. |
FACT: Guillermo del Toro stepped down as a director, in order to direct The Shape of Water instead, which went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
No one in the history of the world would dare walk into a Pacific Rim movie expecting a revolutionary plot. Even Del Toro kept things basic with the main perspective placed upon the fights themselves. DeKnight and his team of screenwriters are clearly unsure where the focus should be. By including a young team of aspiring Jaeger pilots, a former prodigy who turned his back from the program and his partner who now holds contempt, Uprising might as well be Independence Day: Resurgence and the similarities between them are more extensive than one would like. Uprising also falls victim to poorly developed characters with a handful of them ranking among some of the worst I've ever seen. Boyega channels his charm and charisma to do the best he can but even he struggles with the stilted dialogue and humour that fails to drawn a single chortle. There was a slight glimmer thanks to the chemistry between Boyega and Spaeny who adds a smidge of infectious likeability to her determined hero but the only drawback with their relationship is how identical it is to Raleigh and Mako's from the first. One is a former pilot who has now abandoned the path that was set for him and is called back at an hour of need. The other is a young fighter who has always dreamed of becoming a Jaeger pilot and shares a remarkable bond with her companion that makes them ideal for drift compatibility. There's even a sequence between the two where a neural handshake goes wrong causing the younger, less experienced member to suffer a hallucinatory flashback. As for supporting players, this is where Uprising faceplates deep into the crust of the Earth. The new band of younger Jaeger pilots are entirely disposable as they occupy every single stereotype conceivable. Scott Eastwood appears as the no-nonsense veteran that has a controversial past with Jake and that is the only shred of characterisation that we get from his character. He is a complete mystery and an almost carbon copy of all military leader ever put to film. Eastwood hasn't yet got the clout to carry a performance like this so has to rest on his laurels as he faces the brunt of the criticism. There is also the inclusion of a character solely intended to act as a love interest for Jake and Nate (Eastwood) and her scenes are jaw-droppingly awful and uncomfortable. If memory serves, she isn't in a scene where Jake and Nate aren't drooling over her and yet, the film treats her as if she's an integral part of the story. And then there's Charlie Day. I'm a huge fan of Day and his work elsewhere. I also didn't mind his eccentric scientist from the first film as he turned it up to eleven on the crazy scale that he shared with Burn Gorman. In the sequel, his character of Newt has been completely ruined to the point where a reveal regarding his character turns Pacific Rim: Uprising from a fairly forgettable flick that fans of the franchise will ignore, to a sequel that nearly undoes a substantial amount of work that Del Toro built in 2013.
 |
| NASA have upped their budget. |
To put it simply, Pacific Rim: Uprising is a sheer mess. As a fan of the series, it doesn't tarnish the legacy that came before but it does create a stain on the overall mural. Boyega manages to squirm out unscathed but everyone else falls victim in the collapse of a potential franchise. The plot never knows what to focus on nor when arcs should end and so the film itself felt like it was unfinished and made by people that hadn't really watched the first Pacific Rim with enough attention. All in all, if you want to see how we all thought the first Pacific Rim would turn out, the sequel will answer that.
My Verdict: 5/10
If you like what you've seen here don't forget to share this with everyone you know, comment below and check out my other reviews. Thanks for reading!!
Follow the official Luke's Reviews Facebook page: fb.me/LukeStapley1
Follow me on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/LukeStapley1
Comments
Post a Comment