PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING
DeKnight’s Tale
released 30 July (Download out now) 2018 | 12 | Blu-ray (4K/3d/standard)/ DVD/SVOD/DOWNLOAD Director steven s DEKNIGHT Cast John Boyega, scott eastwood, Jing Tian, Cailee spaeny
At heart, Pacific Rim was about giant robots scrapping with giant monsters, so creator/director Guillermo del Toro did an amazing job making sure the more nuanced elements of the story weren’t totally overwhelmed by apocalyptic carnage. His vision of an international team overcoming adversity to fight alien invaders, linking their minds to pilot mecha fighting machines with cool names like Gipsy Danger, was such a successful formula that this follow-up attempts to replicate it wholesale. Alas, lacking the charm or invention of its predecessor, it all feels rather flat.
Ten years have passed since the apocalypse was cancelled. Kaiju skeletons litter the landscape but humanity is rebuilding from the ruins, and the Jaeger fleet is on the verge of being usurped by an army of drone defenders. It’s the sort of calm status quo that makes another monstrous incursion through the “Breach” inevitable...
New director/co-writer Steven S DeKnight (a veteran of TV’s Daredevil) gamely jumps through narrative hoops to bring the Kaiju back, but his efforts only work if you’ve never watched a blockbuster sequel. You can see the Precursors’ evil plan coming from miles away, while deploying a bunch of rookies to save the day (using tech assembled in an implausibly short time, to fight something bigger than we’ve seen before) is such a cliché that it should have been banned by an international treaty. The fights among the Tokyo and Sydney skylines remain spectacular triumphs of CG artistry, of course, though they lose something thanks to setting them in daytime – the first movie’s gloom and rain really added to the atmosphere.
With returning cast kept to a minimum, it’s left to franchise newcomer John Boyega to carry the movie. Luckily, the star quality he displayed in Attack The Block and Star Wars doesn’t desert him, and he’s the uncontested MVP as the wayward son of Idris Elba’s late Stacker Pentecost. But with a by-the-numbers script that lacks the comic banter that Marvel movies make so easy, there’s only so much he can do. If there’s going to be a third spin round the block, a major rethink will be needed.
Extras The featurettes may be brief (ranging from two to five minutes apiece), but the fact that there’s nine of them means they cover a decent amount of ground. DeKnight and members of his cast and crew show up to discuss the Pacific Rim world 10 years on, the new cast, Jaegers and the Kaiju – there’s even a featurette devoted to the returning Mako, which gives her nearly as much screentime as the movie. Plus: an info-dense commentary from DeKnight, eight deleted scenes (one featuring Guardians Of The Galaxy director James Gunn as a DJ), and a geeky Boyega-fronted guide to the new Jaegers. Richard Edwards
You see the evil plan coming from miles away
The script originally featured Pacific Rim’s Raleigh Becket, but was rewritten when Charlie Hunnam bailed to remake Papillon.