In 2014, Pacific Rim canceled the Apocalypse, but we knew it couldn't stay canceled forever. March, 2018 will bring us Pacific Rim Uprising, a rock-em-sock-em giant robots versus giant monsters sequel looking to outdo the original. Directed by Stephen S. DeKnight (Daredevil season 1), and written by Emily Carmichael, T.S. Nowlin, Kira Snyder, and DeKnight from a story by Guillermo Del Toro, who directed the original Pacific Rim and serves as producer for the sequel, Uprising introduces a new generation of human defenders to pilot Jaegers against the invading hordes of Kaiju.The first full trailer for Uprising debuted at the Pacific Rim panel at New York Comic Con 2017 as well as being attached to prints of Blade Runner 2049. Here's our breakdown of the awesome spectacles we'll be seeing when the Jaegars and Kaiju rise up to wage war once more:
The Kaiju Are Back
It's been 10 years since the Battle of the Breach when Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba), piloting his Jaeger Striker Eureka, gave us his life to help Gispy Danger detonate a nuclear bomb that sealed the Breach to the dimension the Kaiju hail from. Stacker's sacrifice allowed the pilots of Gipsy Danger, Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) and Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) to survive and mankind to claim victory over the Kaiju. We learn now that peace has lasted for 10 years, but the Kaiju have returned and... "they've evolved!" We see several glimpses of groups of Kaiju rampaging through Asian cities, destroying buildings with people fleeing in terror. It seems like the Kaiju are now regularly attacking in groups, as well, a tactic they began to display late in the original Pacific Rim.
A New Generation
During the decade of peace a new generation has grown up with memories of the devastation the Kaiju caused and of the wars against them fought by the Jaegers. Our new main character is Jake Pentecost (John Boyega), the son of the late Stacker. Some of the new faces who will join Jake in piloting the next generation of Jaegers against the Kaiju invaders are Nate Lambert (Scott Eastwood), who looks to be the one merging with Jake in the Drift as they pilot their new Jaeger Gipsy Avenger together. Some other new faces in Uprising's international cast who look to be piloting the new Jaegers are Cailee Spaeny as Amara Namani, Karan Brar as Suresh, Mackenyu as Ryoichi and Ivanna Sakhno as Vik. They will definitely be challenged like no Jaeger pilots have ever been challenged before.
It's also fun to note for American fans of John Boyega who are used to hearing him speak with an American accent in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Detroit that Boyega sports his native British accent in Uprising, just as his father played by Idris Elba spoke with his native British accent.
Returning Favorites
A trio of faces from the first Pacific Rim are definitely returning for Uprising. We see a slew of soldiers arriving via helicopter flanked by Mori Mako and Dr. Newt Geiszler (Charlie Day). Right in the center is another new character, Lwen Shao (Jing Tian). We also see Newt's scientist partner and foil Dr. Hermann Gottleib (Burn Gorham) is also back, uttering the ominous line "There's something you need to see.."
Missing from Uprising's cast who were major players in the original is Ron Perlman, who confirmed he wouldn't be reprising his fan favorite role as Kaiju organs black market dealer Hannibal Chau (though the post-credits stinger revealed that Hannibal did survive being eaten by a baby Kaiju). In addition, Charlie Hunnam won't be returning for Uprising due to scheduling commitments. Hopefully, the whereabouts of Raleigh, one of the heroes of the Battle of the Breach, will at least be addressed. And maybe Perlman, Hunnam or both might appear as a surprise if there's an end-credits scene.
PPDC Headquarters Attacked
The Pan Pacific Defense Headquarters is shown to be attacked at night time. We see utter chaos on the grounds of PPDC HQ as vehicles and building explode, people panic and flee and the feet of Jaegers stomp across the grounds in retaliation while Amara is caught right in the middle of the devastation. We also see missiles fired at a tower of the base and a PPDC official - possibly Marshal Quan played by Zhang Jin - scream in terror before caught in the explosion. However, the trailer makes it appear that the missiles were fired from Jaegers! Are there rogue elements in the PPDC that somehow commandeered some of the Jaegers? Could there be people who somehow want a second Kaiju War or have a score to settle with the PPDC?
The Mark VI Jaegers
The victory of the Battle of the Breach vindicated the Jaeger program, which was on the verge of being scrapped before Stacker Pentecost assembled the final group of Jaegers at the Shatterdome for a final series of offensives against the Kaiji. In the decade since, the Jaeger Program has grown by leaps and bounds, with the creation of a new fleet of the most powerful and advanced Jaegers ever created: the Mark VI Jaegers.
The new 25-story-tall Jaegars come with a slew of new weapons: plasma blades, elbow rockets, and something called a Gravity Sling. Gipsy Avenger is the next-generation successor to the legendary Gipsy Danger, comes with a sprint speed upgrade and a Chain Sword. Bracer Phoenix has a chest-mounted gun, a Vortex Cannon, and an Ant-Kaiju Missile Launcher. The most agile Jaeger, Saber Athena, has twin blades and a Particle Charger. The wrecking machine of the Jaeger fleet, Titan Redeemer's primary weapon is a Seismic Morningstar. Finally, Guardian Bravo has an Electric Arc Whip, which we see it using as it fights a Kaiju in the trailer. In addition, we see the Jaeger fleet soar through the skies via back mounted thrusters, so there looks to be even more aerial combat in Uprising as well.
The piloting of the Jaegers is now also more sophisticated. Each Jaegar still requires two pilots side by side and joined in the Drift, but their motions are now faster and smoother, require more agility, and they seem to also have (simulations of) the same weapons in the cockpit as their Jaegars are using in battle.
Jaegers and Kaiju Fighting In Daylight!
As impressive as the visual effects of the original Pacific Rim were in making the audience believe in the sight of giant robots fighting giant monsters, most of the battle scenes were shot at night, during rainstorms, and in the ocean, which helped obscure the visual effects. The trailer for Pacific Rim Uprising clearly shows the sequel's Jaeger vs. Kaiju fights happen in broad daylight and right in the middle of major cities. One criticism of the original film was that the Jaegers moved slowly and purposely, which was intended to convey their mass and the physics involved with giant robots of that size. Uprising looks to be a much more anime-styled upgrade to the Jaegers' movements, with the Mark VI Jaegars moving much faster and being much more agile than their predecessors.
It also seems like we get to see some Jaeger fighting Jaeger action as well. Whether this is due to a training exercise or some rogue elements take command of at least one of the mighty new Jaegers remains to be seen.
"Well, he's pretty big!"
Not to be outdone, the Kaiju also look like they've learned a lot of lessons since their defeat in the previous film, and they've returned with new tricks. Most terrifying of all is what we glimpse at the end of the trailer: the Kaiju seem to have gained the ability to combine together to form an even bigger, multi-eyed Super Kaiju monster! At the very least, the Super Kaiju seems to stitch itself back together from injuries with some kind of healing factor. "Give it everything you've got!" Jake commands the Jaegers. But will it be enough to take down the biggest Kaiju yet? Do the Kaiju have even more monstrous surprises in store for Earth's defenders? Or is it that this time, the Apocalypse won't be canceled? We can't wait to find out.
