Where the first Pacific Rim couldn't wait to get to the goods, whiplashing the audience into their first monster-vs-robot fight in the first ten minutes, this one seems reluctant to get there at all. A long majority of the film is spent outside the giant mechs, doting over a slew of thin, bland, mostly-new focal figures instead.
It seems frightened to cut loose, withholding the payout for fear it can't measure up. Those worries were well-founded. Once the monster threat finally rears its head and the city block-sized laser swords start flying, Uprising is a pale impersonation. Gone are the unique, individualized robotic designs of the previous film, instead replaced by a standardized set of forms that would easily run together in action scenes without the helpfully colorful paint jobs.
Well-founded rules and restrictions for the universe, an important set of boundaries established and obeyed in the first film, are hand-waved away as soon as it's convenient to do so. What few returning characters remain are reduced to simple archetypes, emotionlessly going through the motions alongside the new cast members. It isn't even all that much fun to watch, despite all the flashing lights, rumbling buildings and well-trodden action movie conventions.
A pointless sequel that does nothing new and actively resists many aspects of the original - why bother at all?
Review by drqshadowBlockedParent2020-01-29T20:46:27Z
Where the first Pacific Rim couldn't wait to get to the goods, whiplashing the audience into their first monster-vs-robot fight in the first ten minutes, this one seems reluctant to get there at all. A long majority of the film is spent outside the giant mechs, doting over a slew of thin, bland, mostly-new focal figures instead.
It seems frightened to cut loose, withholding the payout for fear it can't measure up. Those worries were well-founded. Once the monster threat finally rears its head and the city block-sized laser swords start flying, Uprising is a pale impersonation. Gone are the unique, individualized robotic designs of the previous film, instead replaced by a standardized set of forms that would easily run together in action scenes without the helpfully colorful paint jobs.
Well-founded rules and restrictions for the universe, an important set of boundaries established and obeyed in the first film, are hand-waved away as soon as it's convenient to do so. What few returning characters remain are reduced to simple archetypes, emotionlessly going through the motions alongside the new cast members. It isn't even all that much fun to watch, despite all the flashing lights, rumbling buildings and well-trodden action movie conventions.
A pointless sequel that does nothing new and actively resists many aspects of the original - why bother at all?