The follow-up to Guillermo del Toro’s earnest love letter to kaiju movies already looks epic.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim remains one of my very favorite cinema experiences of the last five years. I walked in knowing close to nothing about the film and exited an avid fan, both nostalgic for a life-long love of apocalyptic monster movies and just in awe of the shininess of the graphics and effects. So, “excited” is an understatement when it comes to my reaction to the new trailer for the sequel: Pacific Rim: Uprising.
Directed by Steven S. DeKnight (Daredevil) from a screenplay by DeKnight, Emily Carmichael, Kira Snyder and TS Nowlin, Uprising picks up 10 years after the end of Pacific Rim. The Jaeger (read: giant robot) program is flourishing, but when some kaiju (read: big-ass beasts) reappear after a little hiatus of evolution, the world has to come together once again.
This time, the best and brightest of a new generation is behind the controls of these Jaegers. Jake Pentecost (John Boyega), son of Idris Elba’s ill-fated character from the first film, is brought into the program to aid in uniting the cause and save the world. Acting alongside Boyega is an ensemble of cast members old and new, including Scott Eastwood, Cailee Spaeny, Jing Tian, Charlie Day, Burn Gorman, and Rinko Kikuchi.
Uprising already looks considerably different from Pacific Rim, but no need to fret, it still gets you hyped. The trailer itself reveals very little about the premise of the film, but the upside comes from a fresh-faced cast. While the absence of Pacific Rim‘s protagonist, Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam), is rather palpable, the new characters in Uprising are basically blank canvasses that will hopefully deliver the same strong relationship dynamics the first movie does. Boyega’s Jake is of course especially intriguing. He already seems to take after his dad in terms of giving inspirational speeches and being a born leader.
Jaeger technology seems to have made some noticeable advances in the first footage of Uprising too. Perhaps it’s just the way the trailer is cut, but the tech looks less clunky and pilots are moving with way more ease. Some of the changes definitely add intrigue in terms of storytelling, as well. Like the fact that someone is (seemingly) piloting a Jaeger without a suit on. Plus, there’s Jaeger vs. Jaeger combat, which opens up a bunch more questions. And biggest of all: how does one fight off such colossally colossal kaiju?
EW posted some first-look images and mini bios for characters and Jaegers to give us a little more flavor into the Pacific Rim sequel. Pacific Rim: Uprising lands in cinemas March 23, 2018. Time to set our calendars.
Related Topics: john boyega, Pacific Rim, Trailers
