Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

Cast: John Boyega, Scott Eastwood, Cailee Spaeny, Burn Gorman, Charlie Day, Tian Jing, Zin Zhang, Adria Arjona, Rinko Kikuchi, Karen Brar, Wesley Wong, Ivanna Sakhno, Mackenyu, Lily Ji, Shyrley Rodriguez, Rahart Adams, Levi Meaden, Dustin Clare, Chen Zitong.

There are films that come out of the imagination in which the viewer is perfectly aware of the debt they owe to other cinematic releases, of the plot line and the likelihood of the character’s chances of survival, of the overall plot line, whether it be paper thin or elaborately complex in the writer’s eyes, such films are bread and butter, they are the popcorn and the go to safety net in which to feel the thrill but not ask too many questions afterwards.

You either embrace this type of film and see a picture that doesn’t insult you but can leave you wondering why you enjoyed the ride or you can punish it, find yourself becoming the worst of critics, deriding something that you have no way of truly even contemplating ever seeing; like someone who won’t try anything just once, you close your mind to the possibility that even for a moment you might enjoy something within.

Pacific Rim Uprising is that type of film, a sequel you knew was coming, which the inevitable sound of the spare change would grow and morph into big bucks taken and one which does have an element of charm, one which appeals to the burning desire of science fiction if nothing else. It is also a film that sees the return of the three of the previous encounter’s characters and too two of them steal the film from under the noses of the younger stars.

In Burn Gorman and Charlie Day, the film and the premise holds its end up well, the disparate nature of science leading from the front in such situations is given a sharp edge of comedy in which to lighten the mood, the sides and avenues explored leading to revelations and the once more inevitable, but arguably well intentioned, third film, the trilogy perhaps then coming full circle.

Some films are a distinctly poor average feature, they don’t do anything that is different or even display a passion for the genre it is portraying, some films find it hard to engage with the audience and leaves them cold, leaves them dry; not so Pacific Rim Uprising, it is never going to win an award for best dialogue or plot but it is likeable, it has the ability to make you want to keep watching, knowing full well that you will still leave the cinema wondering why you stayed.

Pacific Rim Uprising is distinctly average but somehow engaging, some films are born to be contradictory by their very nature, yet not all have the glint in the eye which suggests, don’t take me seriously and we shall get along fine.

Ian D. Hall