Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018)

Pacific Rim: Uprising is the sequel to the 2013 Guillermo del Toro original Pacific Rim.

Written and directed by Steven S. DeKnight, the same man who directed some of Smallville and Angel, but is better known as the writer. There are some camera issues that Transformers doesn't have. The shots of the Jaeger's are cool, but the character direction is odd and some of the choices in close-ups are technically flawed. I should say extreme close-ups.

John Boyega tries to carry a film as the lead actor again and it's not really selling to me. His character adds humor to the film which destroys some of Scott Eastwood's smooth delivery. Finn from Star Wars is his best acting so far and that's because of his direction there.

Speaking of Scott Eastwood, he plays Nate Lambert who is a Jaeger Ranger and veteran in training the young crowd. I wish that he could lead the film because he's a better actor. I hope with whatever sequel comes next that Eastwood gets to come back. Knowing his personality from watching interviews with Josh Macuga I could easily see him coming back.

Cailee Spaeny was the standout from the film as a very young Jaeger pilot who wants to be ready for when the rift opens up and the monster's come back to Earth. I can't really go into much detail without spoilers for the film.

Charlie Day also is hard to talk about without spoiling anything but I did not like the direction his character took but I understood the reason why. It was predictable but I enjoyed more how his character was handled in the original.

Result: B (I just have a nostalgia for gigantic mechs and couldn't lower my grade any further.)

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