Film Review - Pacific Rim: Uprising (12A)

Fire everything you've got!

We live in a blessed cinematic era. Computer generated imagery has advanced to the point where virtually any idea - dinosaur theme-parks, dazzling future-scapes, insane alternative dimensions - can be reproduced onscreen. Just because you can create it, however, doesn't necessarily mean you should. Case in point - Pacific Rim: Uprising.

Don't mistake me - I quite enjoyed 2013's original Pacific Rim. Maybe it's a boy-thing, but there's something irresistible about the phrase 'giant robots versus giant monsters'. It's a simple, fun idea... Strange creatures (kaiju in Japanese) have invaded Earth via a dimensional rift in the ocean floor and are wreaking global havoc. All that's between them and our destruction is squads of gargantuan humanoid machines named Jaegers, operated from within by pairs of cerebrally-linked humans. Guillermo del Toro developed the screenplay for the first outing and then directed it, lending all his visual flair to the story. Idris Elba played Commander Stacker Pentecost (top name!), whose job it was to whip raw recruits into world-saving shape. Spoiler - the humans won. 

It was daft. It was the definition of fast-food cinema. But it worked due to an adequate story on which to hang the CGI action, along with zestful execution. Now four years on (ten in terms of the story) comes this entirely unnecessary sequel. Del Toro encouraged it and produced, but frankly he's been off creating real art in the form of The Shape of Water rather than investing time in this flailing mess. It misses his creative input, particularly in terms of the screenplay.

Let me be fair - the opening thirty minutes are okay. John Boyega plays Jake Pentecost (son of Idris), a roguish black-marketeer who makes a living off selling old Jaeger parts. He brings all his Star Wars charm only this time with a Brit accent, and spars entertainingly with Amara (Cailee Spaeny), a fifteen-year-old orphan genius, who has built her own Jaegar from scrap. When both are arrested, they choose enlistment in the Jaeger pilot program over jail and travel to the base in China. Our reintroduction to the place is a reminder of how refreshingly international the first film was - this isn't America rescuing the planet a la Independence Day, it's global salvation through a truly global enterprise. Shortly after our heroes' arrival, however, the whole thing goes to hell - I mean both the world of the film and the on-screen storytelling.

The warning sign comes relatively early. It's when young Amara is walking through the Jaeger-drome, gazing up at the robots in awe and reeling off their names - 'Wow, it's Gypsy Danger, it's Crimson Typhoon, OMG it's Vauxhall Avenger!' (I may have misremembered that last one.) We all know this is primarily a merchandising exercise and that some cinemas will have Jaeger toys ready-wrapped in the foyer, but couldn't the script manage it with a little more style? Or a little more story? 

Characters established in the first act fail to be developed, while new ones aren't given enough screen time for anyone to care remotely what happens to them. Some turn on a hair from pseudo-bad to good, or from amoral jackass to hero, with no sense of an actual journey taking place (possibly a result of ruthless editing to leave more room for robot/monster smackdowns). There are good ideas for sure - tensions between a Jaeger drone company and the regular pilots could have provided actual drama - along with glimmers of what might have been meaningful character moments. But ultimately this is an excuse for huge screen-cramming robot battles and the laying waste of entire cities. The CGI is quality, I'll grant you that, and it's even well-directed by Stephen S. DeKnight. But it disengages totally from any kind of emotional investment, so that the unending slam-bang action becomes grimly tedious. Who lives? Who dies? Who gives a damn? I can't even remember the pilots' names!

Boyega does his best to add charm, and Burn Gorman resumes his nutty scientist role from the first movie with commendable energy. But these two struggle along with everyone else not to drown in the CGI tsunami that engulfs all - discernible plot included. Oh, the boredom - we're talking Transformers-level mind-bludgeoning awfulness here, a 'Please-God-make-it-stop' kind of deal. (God didn't make it stop, by the way. I had to wait for the end credits to do that.)

I'd never have believed that something with Del Toro even vaguely attached to it could have turned out this dull, but I stand corrected. Because computer technology, however brilliantly used, will always be rendered dull by piss-poor storytelling. It's a lesson that Hollywood studio executives need to learn - fast and well.

Gut Reaction: Engaged for a while, then not. My cinema-going companion fell asleep. I didn't get that lucky.

Where Are the Women?: Spaeny has potential, but her teen Jaeger pilot is just plain irritating. The rest of the female cast are wasted in barely developed roles. So are most of the males, come to that.

Ed's Verdict: 3/10. Technical wizardry, talented multi-national cast and thematic potential - it all dissolves into a great narrative-lite sludge. This sequel is as dead in the water as a slaughtered kaiju.