I’m not one for favorites (I think I’ve said this before). I don’t have an all time favorite band or cuisine or dress. So, it’s a pretty big deal when I finally claim to have a favorite movie.
And on my very short list, the first entry is Pacific Rim. It’s not so much the clever storyline or the unique perspective to an action movie (read sarcasm), as it is the shock & awe of it all. The soundtrack to the first movie has gotten me through many a dank day, and those Yaeger-Kaiju battles can brighten up any mood I might find myself in.
So, when a sequel was announced after five years, I wanted to be the first one through the doors on Opening Day!
That didn’t happen.
BUT, I did get around to watching it soon after.
Like most sequels, it wasn’t off to a very promising start. I didn’t quite get how an entire civilization could live in paranoia after near-definitive proof that they had wiped out the invasive alien species. But even assuming that they believed there was some way these creatures would make their way back, where was all the advanced tech? The training looked like more of the same, and the Yaegers were apparently made of more. But we’re never quite sure of what.
Though we are offered a new, popular and better looking cast, they don’t sound much smarter. When you hear snippets of the synopsis to the first movie peppered into the screenplay, it comes across as a valiant effort to keep first timers to the franchise in the loop, but in all seriousness, just falls flat and does little to plug holes in the timeline.
Cailee Spaeny as our mini-protagonist has a decent storyline at the top of the movie, only to be shoved aside because the plot doesn’t really have time for her. It seemed like every scene that sharply interjected another was put there to justify the final showdown.
John Boyega on the other hand does a good job of playing the dickish, couldn’t-care-less, butt hurt protagonist that we’ll eventually come to love. The rest of the cast including the returning members kept the pace up, doing for the movie what the story couldn’t.
Talking about the Yaegers, the Gipsy Avenger tribute to Gipsy Danger was enough to bring tears to my eyes. And don’t even get me started on the epic battles between those sword-wielding giant robots, or I’ll be left with a flooded keyboard that won’t make it through the night!
There’s not much room for creative license once you commit to creating a sequel to a Robots vs. Monsters movie. It’s all about how you can make things bigger and better. And on that front, Pacific Rim: Uprising delivers. It also drives home the point that the franchise has its origins rooted deep in Japanese culture, with some subtle manga based robot shells and some on-the-nose location shots. The story culminates on Mt. Fuji – need I say more?
It has the perfect mix of battles, emotions, twists and turns, to warrant a large tub of buttered popcorn and a tall glass of Coke. But if you find yourself restless in your seat at any point, turn on the soundtrack to the first movie and enjoy the superb visualization the second delivers.
I really wanted to end this review without any spoilers but…. SPOILER ALERT!
How did the Kaijus even create and implant the tech they’d need to open a breach?! How did Liwen Shao, a brilliant scientist, entreprenuer, strong-willed, independent-woman-who-don’t-need-no-man-except-to-run-her-factory-and-save-her-from-falling-debris, who is trying to create a world where Yaegers are the end all be all, not see it coming?! Really Liwen? Really?
TTFN! Ta Ta For Now!
Chronicles of the Twiggy 