To make a good Hollywood movie you need a few unseen monsters, a plot in which the world is about to end (not just America), a hero trying to team up and defeat the bad guys – ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ has everything from the above. Those who have joined the franchise with this part should know that Kaijus are the beasts trying to wipe out humanity and jaegers are the man-made huge robots invented to destroy them. Continuing the legacy set by the master Guillermo del Toro, director Steven S. DeKnight has made his super cool debut with this one. Binding chaos beautifully with fantasy and story; ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ is full of adrenaline rush pumping moments.
As every other sensible sequel, the story is carried forward from where it ended. Post the huge Kaijus VS Jaeger phenomena, the world is now free of Kaijus and we’ve our hero in Jake Pentecost (John Boyega) – son of Kaiju War hero Stacker Pentecost. He manages his livelihood by stealing and selling the precious jaeger parts as they’re not in use anymore. One fine day he gets caught by Pan-Pacific Defence Corps (PPDC) for stealing parts with the little wonder Amara Namani (Cailee Spaeny). They both are jailed and Jake gets one chance to set them both free. He is asked to return to PPDC as an instructor and he agrees to do so.
Reuniting Nate Lambert (Scott Eastwood) at the shatter dome, Jake gets exposed to what really is happening and how Kaijus are not really extinct from the earth. A tech-giant Shao Corporation headed by Liwen Shao (Jing Tian) and Dr. Newt Geiszler (Charlie Day) offers the world remote controlled jaegers. On the grand launch of these robotic monsters, we witness a rogue jaeger emerging from a river which starts destroying the city. Jake and Nate manage the situation but this incident provokes many questions around which the rest of the story has been executed.
‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ is not boring but also doesn’t live up to the stir created by its predecessor. The first one had everything mixed properly but this one is unnecessarily loud at places. During the major course of the film, you never connect to the real purpose of what the makers are trying to convey. It takes a lot of time to reveal the purpose of the film and because of this, the proceedings get dragged in between.
The entire jaeger gone rogue episode is very intriguing leaving the audience with a mystery for a long time. The whole climax sequence is jaw dropping plus the 3D effects complements it very well. The movie ends on a pre-credit scene hinting at how it’ll not be humans on the receiving end next time.
Imagining ‘Pacific Rim’ without Charlie Hunnam was a difficult task for the fans but John Boyega, fresh from the ‘Star Wars’ flagship movie, totally serves justice. His straight-faced presence proves to be an interesting heroic trait which you get used to by the first half. Cailee Spaeny as Amara adds the humane side to this cyborg universe. Charlie Day’s character gets an important twist in this one and he totally nails it with his evil smirk. Eastwood has not much to do in the film but shares an interesting chemistry with Boyega throughout.
When you’re coming up with an interesting version of ‘Transformers’, you need good music to support the narration. Lorne Balfe of Skylanders fame has orchestrated the music for the film and it’s very good. Not forced, binding with the scenes, the music helps to elevate the action sequences. Roping in Dan Mindel as the cinematographer, the guy who has worked both on Star Trek and Start Wars, might be the best decision of the makers. Mindel is a familiar face to these other worldly happenings and he has created a superlative atmosphere. Post Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar winning movie ‘The Shape Of Water’, one would’ve thought how this part of Pacific Rim could’ve been including that guy. Full marks to Steven S. DeKnight as this marks his debut and it couldn’t have been better than this.
On the whole, ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ is entertaining enough to forget the minor loopholes. Great performances, very good music and a worthy climax. Watch this for 2 hours of popcorn munching experience.
Rating: 3/5
