Pacific Rim: Uprising: Review

Hopping from one uber-budget sci-fi romp to the next, John Boyega stars in Pacific Rim: Uprising - the follow up to visionary mastermind Guillermo del Toro's 2013 Pacific Rim. Under completely new directorship this 2018 sequel instantly loses what made the original more than your average action packed sci-fi flick. This time round Jack Pentecost, son of last outing's hero Stacker Pentecost, must lead a new age of Jaeger pilots to fight against an awakening threat of even bigger, even deadlier Kaju monsters. 

This robotic smash n' bash fiesta is shackled by a massively un-engaging premise. Combining the clunky metal action of the Transformers series with the campy colours and corny catchphrases of Power Rangers, Pacific Rim: Uprising will probably appeal most to those who enjoy the Saturday morning cartoon's from which it's inspired.

Arguably the best thing to come from Uprising is Boyega’s cheeky, quick thinking performance. Overshadowed recently by the young heavyweight talent in the latest Star Wars saga’s character lineup - think Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver - Boyega is still yet to prove himself with an individual lead role of note. By no means is this portrayal anything we haven’t seen before - however it is pretty much what you’d expect from this typically one dimensional action genre. 

But that is Pacific Rim: Uprising in a nutshell - absolutely nothing we haven’t seen once, twice even many times before. For the most part the action has a particularly exhilarating finish but is too often  bogged down in below average story telling. Gigantic colourful robots brawling in the bustling streets of Tokyo is a fun watch for at least the first half hour, but surrounded by incredibly dull performances and a script that may have met Hollywood’s standard during the early nineties -  you soon begin to realise there isn’t all that much more on offer. 

Style over substance was almost guaranteed for this manga inspired robot romp, yet funnily neither of the two are truly on offer here. At best it has some sense of visual style, and in fairness the fight scenes are much better choreographed than any of the recent Transformers movies. In the final analysis however Pacific Rim: Uprising is just another clunky robot caper to add to the ever growing rusty junkyard pile. 

Pacific Rim: Uprising:

Very Bad