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.
Director: Steven S. DeKnight
Cast: John Boyega , Scott Eastwood, Cailee Spaeny, Jing Tian, Adria Arjona, Zhang Jin, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Burn Gorman
Release Date: March 23, 2018
Genres: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and some language
Runtime: 1h 51min
Review:
Pacific Rum Uprising is one of those sequels that feels like a lesser version of the original film. That’s not to say that Uprising doesn’t offer some robot action because it does but it just doesn’t connect in the same way the original did. Part of the reason is its decision to jettison the majority of the cast of the original film. Idris Elba died at the end of the first film so his omission is expected but Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi should have had some sort of role in the sequel. Hunnam couldn’t participate due to scheduling issues and Rinko Kikuchi is given a token appearance before she’s taken off the board. It’s a shame when a sequel removes nearly everything from the previous film in order to start with a clean slate and present us with a new cast of character. John Boyega in the lead is good fun since he’s allowed to spread his wings a bit more than he has in the recent Star Wars films. Boyega displays some of the energetic charm he displayed years ago in Attack The Block. Sadly the supporting cast is a solid display of blandness across the board. Scott Eastwood may look like his father but he doesn’t have anywhere near the same kind of screen magnetism. The rest of the supporting players are made up by faceless 20 something where supposed to care about but can’t since their about as one dimensional as they come. Charlie Day and Burn Gorman returned for this entry but sadly the magic just isn’t there. Pacific Rim Uprising is a passable sequel but you can’t help but feel like it should have been much better.
C+
