Pacific Rim: Uprising, 2018
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NqanaweLIVE
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Signed up the 06/04/2018On 06/04/2018 at 00:31 Quote this message
Pacific Rim: Uprising, the sequel to the 2013 sci-fi ‘monsters vs robots’ film that was
directed by Academy award winning and visionary director Guillermo Del Toro is...fun and
heart-warming, to say the very least.
In this instalment, John Boyega stars as Jake Pentecost, son of Stacker Pentecost who was the
head of the Hong Kong Shatterdome in the first instalment and I must say, John Boyega
steals the show in this one. He brings much needed levity and charm with this role and is
definitely one of the main highlights of the film.
The film starts off years after the “breach” has been closed and there haven’t been any Kaiju
incidents in a while. Jake finds himself having to lead a new generation of Jaeger pilots
against an imminent Kaiju threat alongside a 15-year old hacker called Amara (Cailee
Spaeny) and once again save the world from total annihilation by the interdimensional
monsters.
The writers of Uprising obviously had a clear vision on how to build off the first film, at
least for the first act and a half of the film. They expanded the universe and lore from the first
one in a manner that seemed very organic. It felt like this film wasn’t a mere result of the first
film’s success, and it’s nice to feel that when watching a sequel. The fault comes when the
great idea & clear vision gets convoluted and carried away, seeming to get lost within itself.
It got lost in its ‘great idea’ to try and make itself a worthier sequel and set itself apart from
its predecessor and while the attempt is admirable, the execution wasn’t so impressive.
Restraint is key. It is lighter than the first and tries to be funnier than the first, and as is with
everything, the humour sometimes worked – and sometimes it didn’t.
I stepped into this film expecting at least a good movie and my expectations were met. I did
however expect the action scenes to be bigger, better and badder than the first and that wasn’t
quite the case. There were a few fight scenes here and there that blew my mind and made me
scream internally with joy but for the most of it, I wasn’t blown away.
The few things I loved most about this film were the underlying themes. Themes of feeling
like one doesn’t belong, the actions we end up taking because of that and how one can make
it in an environment designed for you to not make it in. Themes such as inclusion, how if we
work together we can do unimaginable things and never losing hope in each – and genuine
change of heart. I know, for a movie about ‘monsters vs robots’ one wouldn’t expect to come
across such relevant messages of humanity, right? I wasn’t expecting them either.
With that being said, I enjoyed Pacific Rim: Uprising and there’s a huge chance I might
catch it again in theatres or when it comes out digitally. Worth a (re)watch.
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