The Sci-Fi Action Sequel That Destroyed A Million-Dollar Franchise, Stream Now Without Netflix
Giant monsters and giant mechs punching each other on the big screen is the stuff that nerd dreams are made of, which is why Pacific Rim was a smash hit in 2013. Thanks to the story-telling ability of Guillermo del Toro and the fascinating hints at the wider world he created, fans were dying for a sequel. Somewhere, a monkey’s paw curled because Pacific Rim: Uprising arrived in 2018, and instead of launching a new sci-fi franchise, it was rejected by fans and killed the series on the big screen.
Studio Politics Delayed Production
Pacific Rim: Uprising suffered from poor timing, as del Toro had plans for a sequel even before the first was released, but it became caught up in a battle between Legendary, the distributor for the first film, and Universal Pictures, the new studio taking over. To make things worse, del Toro had to step away as director and took the script he worked on with Zak Penn with him, leaving directorial duties to Steven S. DeKnight, who was known mostly for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Spartacus but had never run a major film before.
The Next Generation
The only returning cast from the first film are Charlie Day and Burn Gorman, as the bickering scientists, and Rinko Kikuchi, as veteran Jaeger pilot Mako Mori. Pacific Rim: Uprising takes place 10 years later, with Mori as a Senator and helping to run the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps (PPDC), with John Boyega and Scott Eastwood taking over as Gipsy Avenger’s pilots Jake and Nate. Jake is the son of Stalker Pentecost, Idris Elba’s character from the first film, and while he struggles to live up to his father’s legacy, Boyega struggles to match an Idris Elba performance.
Not Enough Punching
Now, the first film only has maybe twenty minutes of Kaiju punching action, but it makes sure to highlight every single second of those battles and includes stunning images, notably Gipsy Danger walking through the city holding a cargo ship as a bat. It’s beautifully shot, and the movie’s industrial-sounding theme kicks in at the right moment to maximize the adrenaline rush.
Pacific Rim: Uprising has no moments like that. Instead, it tries to focus more on the Precusor aliens and why they are trying to conquer the planet. That means lots of talking, with a seemingly endless stream of technobabble, and significantly less kaiju punching.
Uses The Worst Sci-Fi Trope
The other major change is the shift from Jaeger pilots being celebrities to, with the fate of the world at stake, the PPDC bringing in children as pilots. It’s well established that kid sidekicks are usually the most annoying part of any sci-fi property, but Pacific Rim: Uprising puts them front and center, which is even worse. Kid pilots are an anime staple, but usually, they have time to grow and develop, like Amuro Ray in Mobile Suit Gundam.
Skip It And Stream The Rest Of The Franchise
REVIEW SCORE
There’s a lot wrong with Pacific Rim: Uprising, and it was a major step down from the first film, but thankfully, the Godzilla franchise has steppe dup with the excellent Godzilla Minus One and the amazing Kaiju bash that is Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Pacific Rim continued as an anime with Pacific Rim: The Black, which is on Netflix, and I’d go so far as to suggest you forget all about Uprising and watch the anime instead.
But if you want to see everything that can go wrong when making a sequel to a beloved surprise hit, Pacific Rim: Uprising is available on demand via Amazon Prime Video and AppleTV. If you do watch it, clear time out in your schedule to go back and watch Guillermo del Toro’s original right after, and try not to feel any chills when it’s time to cancel the apocalypse.
