Starring: John Boyega, Charlie Day, Burn Gorman, Scott Eastwood, Tian Jing, Adria Arjona, Rinko Kikuchi, Cailee Spaeny
Director: Steven S. DeKnight
Release date: 23rd March 2018
10 years have passed since the Earth was attacked by the Kaiju aliens that came through the breach in the Pacific Ocean floor. Jake Pentecost (John Boyega), son of Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba), is a bit of a law breaker who owes money to a lot of people. While trying to locate a capacitor and ease his debts, he comes across a scavenger called Amara Namani (Cailee Spaeny) who unfortunately for him, gets to the object first. A chase ensues and ultimately they are caught by the PPDC, Pan Pacific Defence Corps, and thrown into jail. As punishment, they are both enlisted into the PPDC; Amara as a cadet and Jake as a Ranger. Both are a little rough around the edges and need to learn new skills. Shao Industries is a company that is in the process of building drone Jaegers (human operated giant mechas used to battle the Kaiju) that don’t need to be human operated. Protests are held across the world against them. One day a rogue Jaeger turns up out of the blue, but it is not all it seems. Dark forces are at work and the PPDC have their work cut out to find the perpetrators.
‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ is the sequel to the first ‘Pacific Rim’ movie that was released back in 2013 and directed by Guillermo del Toro. This time, Guillermo has taken a bit of a back seat and produces the movie instead of directing it.
A follow up to the first movie, this one is a simple continuation of the story. Set 10 years after the events of ‘Pacific Rim’, we are introduced to a load of new characters and some familiar faces are back to keep with the storyline. I always love it when Burn Gorman turns up in a movie. He plays scientist, Dr. Hermann Gottlieb in these movies and I just think he’s a great character actor. You always have to have the ‘token Brit’ in these movies and even though he is Hollywood born, Burn does the British thing to a T. Charlie Day is also a great one to see in movies. He always seems to act a little unhinged and maybe this is why he intrigues so much.
If you love aliens and you also love giant robots then it’s pretty safe to say that you’ll love this movie. The CGI is pretty cool and watching the Jaeger’s fighting the Kaiju’s is fantastic to watch. The battle scenes in the city were really impressive, though the theoretical death toll must have been in the thousands, with buildings and car parks being flattened left, right and centre.
Very much a movie of action over story, it’s a tiny bit predictable in places, but that doesn’t stop it entertaining from the get go. Running at just under 2 hours, it doesn’t feel overly long like some other recent movies have been.
Action, big massive punch ups, giant lizardy aliens, huge humanoid robots and a reasonable storyline, make this one to go and watch with your mates. Goes a tiny bit over-macho in places but I’d say you could definitely take a date along to this movie.
If you want a film that doesn’t over exert your brain, with a few laughs and great visuals then definitely go and see ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’.
Overall: 8/10
