acid reflects

Pacific Rim: Uprising
Directed by Steven S. DeKinight
Based on characters by Travis Beacham

SEMI-SPOLERISH, BEWARE!

The battle between Jaegers and Kaijus continues – Disneyfied. And I don’t meant it in a terrible way. It’s not bad per se, just targetting a different demographic. The story is corny, derivative and borderline contrived (Mecha-Power Ranger teens save the world) but the Jaeger-Kaiju slam-bang action pieces are impressively mounted. Watching this on a large screen like IMAX greatly adds to the Jaegers’ imposing scale.

Ten years after the Breach was closed, the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps has reestablished its defenses around the world, with new Jaegers in the works and pilots in training – in preparation for anticipated re-invasion from the same alien threat.

Jake Pentecost (John Boyega), former Jaeger cadet pilot and now Han Solo-type smuggler, son of Stacker Pentecost (remember Idris “cancelling the Apocalypse” Elba? Him) narrates the beginning and tells everyone how effed up everything has become despite the defeat of the invaders. A botched deal (hah, very Solo) leads him to orphan whiz-mechanic Amara (Cailee Spaeny) who tries to run using a scrap mini Jaeger while being chased by an actual Jaeger.

Their stunt lands them on the Hong Kong Shatterdome as Jaeger cadets courtesy of now Pan Pacific Defense Secretary Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi.) Jake’s ex-co-trainee/ Gypsy Avenger co-pilot Nate (Scott Eastwood) is now his and Amara’s training lieutenant. See where we’re going here?

Anyways, a Chinese mega-tech company Shao Corporation led by its female Elon Musk Liwan Shao (Jing Tian) and its head of research Newt Geiszler (Charlie Day) has developed remote-activated Jaegers, eliminating the need for multiple pilots. They convince Pan Pacific Defense to adopt the tech.

In a ceremony in Sydney, a rogue Jaeger attacks, with Gypsy Avenger (and an emotionally baggaged Jake) failing to defend the PPDC HQ. (SPOILER ALERT) An accident kills Mori, devastating Jake (they’re half siblings, by way of the father.)

The loss points the team to investigate, revealing a sinister plot involving the Shao Jaegers, Newt and the opening of new breaches for a new kaiju invasion. With only a few Jaegers left, Jake, Nate, Amara and their ragtag team of teen pilots try to do what they can to save the planet.

The story may be hokey, but it is well within kaiju-tokusatsu realm of monsters destroying the planet-specifically-Japan using forced perspective. It’s not a remake of the story arch, just a weak sequel – quite a weak one, for as long as the Jaegers and Kaijus duke it out. New Jaegers mean new weapons. If these had references, I wouldn’t know of them. In another nod to Japanese shows, the final kaiju is a combiner – a super-kaiju volt-in of three minor kaijus that managed to come out of the breach that the Shao Jaegers briefly opened.

The most annoying part? John Boyega as the lead. He has no screen charisma at all and I don’t know how or why he was chosen to lead this production. As a result, I have little or no care for his, Amara’s or anyone outside Mori’s fate, let alone the heroics of saving the earth.

What passes off as character development generically in these quest stories goes something like:

self doubt => no motivation : crisis : motivation => heroic conquest.

Jake and Amara share some of that self-doubt and angst as “rejects.” But while Spaeny carries her Amara with just enough spunk to make her somewhat believable as a human in that universe, I can’t say that I can see the same thing from Boyega. Maybe in a few more years and more acting workshops. And no, Jake’s motivational speech only reminds us what a shade he just is of his “cancelling the Apocalype” dad. It may not be Boyega’s fault that his character isn’t fleshed out on paper, but it is his job to make the audience like the character.

I really like the multi-racial cast, but it’s almost a signal as to how the proceedings will work out when they kill off Rinko Kikuchi’s Mako Mori early in the film. Traditionally by tokusatsu design and by, well, politicial intent perhaps, Japan bears the brunt of the metropilitan destruction – a curiosity in this cinematic universe where skyscrapers are still the norm, given the continuing threat of kaijus. Shouldn’t cities be more underground at this point? I’m overthinking it.

(Photos from United International Pictures)

The visuals are superb, especially when seen in a very large screen. Like I asid, this adds to the Jaegers’ (and kaijus’) imposing scale, especially during the battle scenes. The CGI is sharp but still gives a nod to forced perspective ala Godzilla of yore. Anyone making miniature dioramas would be pleased with the detailing here.

Did I forget to mention that China saves the world? Japan is the geographical target of the Kaijus here, conveniently, even though one can surmise that my home country the Philippines strategically is at the midpoint of the Ring of Fire. Manila makes a brief visual presence as letters on a screen, despite the several references in the first Pacific Rim as well as in Gareth Edward’s Godzilla in 2014 as part of Legendary’s Kaijuverse. I can’t wait to see King Ghidorah.

Does this mean the next Pacific Rim installment will be on a Chinese Nickelodeon? Oh, Hollywood.