Pacific Rim Uprising delivers robot on monster action

Giant robots battling giant monsters; what more could you ask for in a film that pays homage to Japanese cinema? How about more robots and bigger monsters? That's the idea behind Pacific Rim Uprising. 

Coming off the strong debut of Pacific Rim, the sequel takes everything that was big about it and made it even bigger. That means bigger monsters, bigger robots, and even bigger stakes as the lore in this universe is taken up a couple of notches. The Kaiju monsters have a plan of attack this time around where they make a full on collision course towards Mount Fuji to activate it and terraform the earth. Instead of sitting by idly, the humans have been training new pilots; enter Jake (John Boyega) the son of the first films hero, played by Idris Elba, who must take up the call to save the world. The story isn't the strong suit when it comes to the creation of this film, but they do manage to create some memorable fight sequences and do things on a bigger scale. Some ideas and plot points are rolled over which creates a connecting link, but it's not a necessary one. 

What makes Pacific Rim Uprising stand out from its predecessor is the amount of color used. The original film fought at night where it was dark and highlighted only the key aspects of the robots or Kaiju; whereas the sequel fights in the daytime and you can see every detail on each robot along with battle damage and fighting style. Its a nice choice to be vibrant and bold in order to stand on its own as to not be a sloppy comparison to the original. There is an interesting idea that is made in the beginning of the film which I thought they would explore more on, but went in a different, albeit predictable, direction that could have really elevated the action and film as a whole. 

Ultimately, Pacific Rim Uprising does exactly what you would expect out of a sequel featuring robots versus monsters. The monsters are bigger and badder and more coordinated this time around that results in a finely tuned purpose that gives us lore to the world of the monsters. What it lacks in story it more than makes up for in action sequences that are choreographed nicely where nothing feels out of place. Give it a chance and you won't be disappointed.  

- Mike