← Back to Reviews
in
Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018) (60%)

Pacific Rim: Uprising is directed by Steven S. DeKnight and stars John Boyega, Scott Eastwood, and Cailee Spaeny. And while I still found this film to be a fun watch, it's definitely not on the same level as the first one. It really just feels like an unnecessary sequel. The story seemed like a bit of a stretch and I really wasn't that impressed with it for most of the movie, and then the first twist happened and I was starting to climb aboard, but then the second twist happened and I jumped back off. I'm just not a big fan of the direction they decided to take it, and it's inferior to the first Pacific Rim in every way possible. Fight scenes? They're still enjoyable, but the first one was better. Characters? Alright, the first one didn't have amazing characters, but Uprising's characters (besides Boyega) are even less interesting than the first one's. I wasn't as impressed with the ending, either. The script? Cheesier than the first one. The direction? Not as good as Guillermo del Toro.
But, even with all of that, I still enjoyed watching this film purely because of the fact that it has robots fighting other robots/aliens. To put all of this into perspective: I think that the first Pacific Rim is a solid film, while I think that Pacific Rim: Uprising is a solid guilty pleasure film. Good if you just want to turn off your brain and watch robots and aliens destroy a ton of stuff, not so good if you're looking for a film that's, well, a good film.

Pacific Rim: Uprising is directed by Steven S. DeKnight and stars John Boyega, Scott Eastwood, and Cailee Spaeny. And while I still found this film to be a fun watch, it's definitely not on the same level as the first one. It really just feels like an unnecessary sequel. The story seemed like a bit of a stretch and I really wasn't that impressed with it for most of the movie, and then the first twist happened and I was starting to climb aboard, but then the second twist happened and I jumped back off. I'm just not a big fan of the direction they decided to take it, and it's inferior to the first Pacific Rim in every way possible. Fight scenes? They're still enjoyable, but the first one was better. Characters? Alright, the first one didn't have amazing characters, but Uprising's characters (besides Boyega) are even less interesting than the first one's. I wasn't as impressed with the ending, either. The script? Cheesier than the first one. The direction? Not as good as Guillermo del Toro.
But, even with all of that, I still enjoyed watching this film purely because of the fact that it has robots fighting other robots/aliens. To put all of this into perspective: I think that the first Pacific Rim is a solid film, while I think that Pacific Rim: Uprising is a solid guilty pleasure film. Good if you just want to turn off your brain and watch robots and aliens destroy a ton of stuff, not so good if you're looking for a film that's, well, a good film.