PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING (2018) ****

Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim was an entertaining mix of Transformers and Godzilla.  It didn’t exactly set the world on fire or anything, but I’m glad it exists.  Del Toro returned as a producer/consultant on this sequel, handing the directorial reigns over to Steven S. DeKnight.  DeKnight had the unenviable task of following del Toro, a job made even harder since del Toro just won an Oscar for the Shape of Water.  I admit, I was a tad worried going in.  To say that I was underwhelmed by DeKnight’s work on the lackluster Daredevil TV show is a massive understatement.  

Surprisingly enough, Pacific Rim:  Uprising is an engaging and heartfelt sequel that manages to be better and more exciting than the original.  DeKnight takes what del Toro did and expands upon it beautifully.  Not only does Uprising give us a bigger picture of the overall mythology, he also fills the movie with characters (and robots) we can care about and root for.  I mean, sure, the scenes of the robots beating the crap out of monsters (and each other) are totally badass, but they’d be nothing but brainless action sequences if we weren’t fully invested in the humans inside of them.  I have to give credit where credit is due:  DeKnight did a helluva job.

In the decade since the world won its final battle with the Kaiju, the nations’ top scientists have been mulling over the future of the giant robotic Jaegers.  The bigwigs decide Jaeger pilots have become redundant and replace them with a line of drone robots.  Naturally, the drones go on the fritz and the Jaegers are sent back into battle to bring them down.

The Jaeger vs. Drone battles are awesome.  There are times where you’ll swear we’ve finally got that Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots movie we’ve always wanted.  There’s more badass stuff in one of these scenes than in all the live-action Transformers movies combined.  The final battle is filled to the brim with eye-popping special effects and some of the best giant robot beatdowns ever captured on the silver screen.

The cast is solid from top to bottom.  John Boyega proves he can carry a movie that isn’t called Star Wars.  He does a fine job playing the son of Idris Elba’s character from the first film who shows he can be a chip off the old block while simultaneously blazing his own trail.  Scott Eastwood proves he’s a movie star too.  Of course, he helps that he is a doppelganger of his old man, but he has plenty of charisma to spare.  Cailee Spaeny makes an impression as Boyega’s new recruit and her relationship with her homemade Jaeger is pretty much the heart of the entire picture.  It was also fun seeing Charlie Day and Burn Gorman stepping effortlessly back into their scientist roles again.

In short, Pacific Rim:  Uprising was the most fun I’ve had in a theater in a long time.  (Or at least since the last John Boyega sci-fi sequel.)  Y’all need to rush out and see it.  It would be a shame if the series doesn’t continue because I for one am all for another trip to this universe.