Pacific Rims: Uprising Review, Trailer, Plot Synopsis And More
Jake Pentecost is a once-promising Jaeger pilot whose legendary father gave his life to secure humanity's victory against the monstrous Kaiju. Jake has since abandoned his training only to become caught up in a criminal underworld. But when an even more unstoppable threat is unleashed to tear through cities and bring the world to its knees, Jake is given one last chance by his estranged sister, Mako Mori, to live up to his father's legacy.
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Pacific Rims: Uprising Official Trailer 2
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Pacific Rims: Uprising Trailer
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Pacific Rims: Uprising Posters And Photos
Pacific Rims: Uprising Review
Pacific Rim Uprising picks up 10 years after the events of Pacific Rim, which saw Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba) sacrifice himself to close the breach and prevent anymore Kaiju from coming to Earth. Stacker’s son, Jake Pentecost (John Boyega) lives his life as a thief, stealing parts from broken down Jaegers to sell on the black market. However, that changes when his score is stolen by a young girl, Amara Namani (Cailee Spaeny), who has built a small Jaeger of her own. Both are captured by the Pan Pacific Defense Corps and forced to choose between jail or service – with much annoyance, Jake chooses to return to service while Amara is excited to enlist.
DeKnight made a name for himself in now-beloved genre television, having written and directed episodes of Smallville and Marvel’s Daredevil, and created Spartacus, but Pacific Rim Uprising is his feature-length directorial debut. And, unfortunately, it is apparent throughout the film, in some of the action sequences especially. DeKnight’s directing style works well in the character moments, helping to emphasize the performances of the film’s main cast, but doesn’t do the Jaeger fight scenes any favors. The action can be hard to follow at times, especially as the settings of these fights – often cities – simply seem to exist to be ruined by the robots and monsters. There are a number of beautiful shots in Pacific Rim Uprising, but that style is sacrificed almost entirely in the big third-act fight. The moments of spectacle in Pacific Rim Uprising are truly something to behold, at least when viewers are really able to see them. As for the story of Pacific Rim Uprising, the sequel offers a great deal of compelling continuations of the universe created by del Toro and Pacific Rim co-writer Travis Beacham. Jake’s life as a thief is a natural evolution of the black market established in the first film and Amara’s self-built Jaeger is a neat idea that adds a new dynamic to the sequel. However, in an effort to set up the big third-act battle, Uprising offers some baffling explanations that do more harm than good to the franchise’s mythology so as to build out the motives of the Kaiju and the Precursors. These aspects of world-building in Pacific Rim Uprising veer more into schlocky sci-fi and do a disservice to the compelling mythology of the first film. With that said, Pacific Rim Uprising is undoubtedly a lighter film than its predecessor and has no qualms about cracking jokes at the expense of itself or its universe. This lighter tone may not have worked if not for its star. Boyega absolutely shines as the rebellious and cheeky Jake Pentecost, elevating the sequel with his charm alone. Eastwood is a decent enough straight man to Boyega’s facetiousness, though his Nate Lambert falls flat when not playing off Boyega’s Jake. Additionally, Spaeny is a breakout in her role as Amara, working exceptionally well with Boyega. The two bring an emotional depth to Uprising with their heartwarming brother-and-sister dynamic – one that’s unfortunately lacking between with Kikuchi’s Mako, who is criminally underused in the sequel. Further, Gorman and Day bring back some of the fun of their characters, though with only a little of the odd-couple humor that worked so well before. I give Pacific Rim Uprising 6.2/10 |
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