Pacific Rim: Uprising

Sometimes, it's important to remember that not all films need to be taken seriously. There are some films that are in the game for sheer stupidity and kick-ass setpieces, and that's totally fine. It's why I love films like the Fast and the Furious series, or some of the older action flicks of the 1990s, because they don't try to act like anything more than they are. That's how Pacific Rim became such a hit in 2013.

Pacific Rim was never meant to be more than a big, show-off action movie about monsters fighting robots. It was never meant to win an Oscar or anything else, if anything, it was just Guillermo Del Toro having a good time. And I f**king loved every single second of it. So, naturally, you'd think that keeping expectations low and having fun is the exact way to enjoy its sequel, Pacific Rim: Uprising. Well, the only thing I can say is...don't bother.

This film has a lot of adversity from the get go, and it's understandable, coming off the back of such a fantastic first film. However, it does absolutely nothing to build on the franchise's reputation, and gives no reason to become even the guiltiest of pleasures. The plot of the film feels like a mish-mashing ripoff of similar films in recent years like Transformers or Independence Day: Resurgence...it's the same old, "The villains are coming back we gotta team up and fight them and set up for the sequel that'll probably never happen." Even then, it does try its hand at giving twists to spice things up...problem is, they could be seen from an absolute mile away.

To boot, you have dialog that seems to be written by a 12 year old writing up some crazy stories on Microsoft Word. As I said before, the original movie was by no means a screenwriting masterpiece, but every word uttered in this film feels like the basic stuff a computer might chuck out. The jokes fall flat, and there are some characters that speak in nothing but cliche after cliche.

If I could give one redeeming factor, I guess I'd place it on the cast, because they're trying really hard. I guess you could call it a participation trophy. John Boyega is decent, I suppose. Charlie Day is an absolute madman, for one...you can tell I'm really reaching for one redeeming thing in this move.

Honestly, Pacific Rim: Uprising tries its best to come out guns blazing, but ends up short on ammo. I'm giving it 3.2/10 for its rather sloppy effort. Am I giving up hope for the franchise? Maybe, but given some things displayed in the film, however, maybe we might be surprised in the end.