Are you feeling drift compatible? Because the first trailer has arrived for Pacific Rim Uprising, Legendary and Universal's upcoming sequel starring John Boyega as Jake Pentecost, son of Idris Elba's Pacific Rim hero, who's following in his father's footsteps as a Jaeger pilot.
Directed by Daredevil's Stephen S. DeKnight, the sequel to Guillermo del Toro‘s 2013 movie will introduce a whole new league of Jaegers to battle the Kaiju threat, fully equipped with trading card-worthy names like Gipsy Avenger, Bracer Phoenix, Saber Athena, Titan Redeemer and Guardian Bravo.
As someone who really enjoyed the first Pacific Rim, it pains me to say this sequel looks kind of terrible. The inherent premise of Pacific Rim—giant robots fighting giant monsters—gave way to cliche and derivativeness, but Guillermo del Toro sidestepped those two pitfalls for the most part, keeping the film fresh, unique, and emotionally genuine. This follow-up, however—from the aesthetic to the story—feels like a bad Transformers ripoff with some Power Rangers sprinkled in for good fun. Everything is overlit, there's no weight to the designs, and even the camera work looks like Michael Bay. There's always the possibility that this is just a poor trailer, but man, this has really hampered my enthusiasm for this follow-up.
Watch the trailer below and click here to watch the film's NYCC panel live, right now. Also starring Scott Eastwood, Tian Jing, Charlie Day, Adria Arjona, Burn Gorman, and Rinko Kikuchi, Pacific Rim Uprising arrives in theaters on March 23, 2018.
Here's the official synopsis for Pacific Rim Uprising:
The globe-spanning conflict between otherworldly monsters of mass destruction and the human-piloted super-machines built to vanquish them was only a prelude to the all-out assault on humanity in Pacific Rim Uprising.
John Boyega (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) stars as the rebellious Jake Pentecost, a once-promising Jaeger pilot whose legendary father gave his life to secure humanity’s victory against the monstrous “Kaiju.” Jake has since abandoned his training only to become caught up in a criminal underworld. But when an even more unstoppable threat is unleashed to tear through our cities and bring the world to its knees, he is given one last chance to live up to his father’s legacy by his estranged sister, Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi)—who is leading a brave new generation of pilots that have grown up in the shadow of war. As they seek justice for the fallen, their only hope is to unite together in a global uprising against the forces of extinction.
Jake is joined by gifted rival pilot Lambert (The Fate of the Furious’ Scott Eastwood) and 15-year-old Jaeger hacker Amara (newcomer Cailee Spaeny), as the heroes of the PPDC become the only family he has left. Rising up to become the most powerful defense force to ever walk the earth, they will set course for a spectacular all-new adventure on a towering scale.
