---
title: "Pacific Rim: Uprising"
year: 2018
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/pacific-rim-uprising"
fi1m_score: 52
critics_score: 56
critics_reviews: 27
published: "2026-09-18T07:23:05.619085+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:47.123749+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018)

Directed by Steven S. DeKnight · 1h 51m · MPA PG-13 · Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Adventure

**Fi1m score: 52** · Critics 56 from 27 reviews

*In a sentence:* Giant robots punch giant monsters in broad daylight, and it turns out the dark was doing a lot of the work

> Steven S. DeKnight’s sequel to *Pacific Rim* is brighter, faster and more cheerful than the original, and John Boyega is good company throughout. It is also thinner, louder and harder to care about, and the robots all look alike.

## Synopsis

Ten years after the Breach was closed, Jake Pentecost (John Boyega), son of Stacker Pentecost, who led the first war, is scavenging Jaeger parts in the ruins of the Californian coast and trading them for whatever he can eat. He runs into Amara Namani (Cailee Spaeny), a teenager who has built a small, working Jaeger of her own from scrap, and both are arrested. Jake’s adoptive sister Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) offers him a choice: a cell, or a return to the Jaeger programme as an instructor to a class of cadets at a training base in China. His old co-pilot Nate Lambert (Scott Eastwood) is waiting there, still in uniform and unimpressed. Meanwhile the industrialist Liwen Shao (Jing Tian) is pushing a fleet of remote-controlled drone Jaegers that would need no pilots at all.

## Review

Guillermo del Toro’s [*Pacific Rim*](https://film.one/film/pacific-rim) (2013) was a big, wet, night-time film about men and women in robots the size of cathedrals, and it had one idea it loved: two people had to share a mind to move the machine. Del Toro stays on as a producer here and hands the director’s chair to Steven S. DeKnight, who comes from television. The sequel is brighter, faster, cheaper-looking and more cheerful, and it has very little on its mind. It is a passable Saturday afternoon and we would not go further than that.

Ten years after the Breach was closed, Jake Pentecost (John Boyega), son of Stacker Pentecost, who led the first war, is scavenging Jaeger parts in the ruins of the Californian coast. He crosses paths with Amara Namani (Cailee Spaeny), a teenager who has built a small Jaeger of her own out of scrap, and both are arrested and sent to a training base in China, where Jake’s adoptive sister Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) gives him the choice between a cell and a cadet programme. That is the first twenty minutes, and it is the best-written stretch of the film.

Boyega is the reason to watch. He plays Jake as a man who has given up and is rather enjoying it, and he gets laughs out of lines that do not have one written into them; a scene in which he tells Amara how to survive the academy has more life than any of the fights. Spaeny is quick and unsentimental, and their scenes together have an easy scrappiness the rest of the film cannot find. Scott Eastwood, as Jake’s former co-pilot Nate Lambert, is asked to be square-jawed and disapproving and does exactly that. Jing Tian’s Liwen Shao, the industrialist pushing a fleet of drone Jaegers that need no pilots, is given a boardroom and nothing else. Charlie Day and Burn Gorman return as the scientists Newton Geiszler and Hermann Gottlieb, and Day in particular is doing something odder than the film seems to notice.

Dan Mindel shoots the battles in daylight, which is the biggest change from the first film and not a good one. Del Toro fought in rain and darkness, and the darkness did quiet work: the robots looked heavy because we could not quite see them. Here a Jaeger walks across Sydney at noon under a clear sky and looks like what it is, an expensive toy on an expensive pavement. Stefan Dechant and Paul Denham Austerberry’s designs are clean and legible and hard to tell apart; four robots stand in a row and we could not have named a second one. Lizz Wolf puts the cadets in colour-coded flight suits, which is how we kept track of them.

Zach Staenberg cuts fast and clearly, and to his credit we always knew which robot was hitting which monster, which is not a given in this genre. What we did not know, from about the hour mark onwards, was why we should care. Lorne Balfe’s score thumps along underneath, brass and drums and a chanted motif, loud without ever being memorable. The credited writers are Emily Carmichael, Kira Snyder, T.S. Nowlin and DeKnight himself, and the seams show: the cadets have a subplot, the drones have a subplot, the scientists have a subplot, and each is stated rather than played.

Here is what we felt. When a rogue Jaeger came out of the water off Sydney and the film stopped explaining and simply let two machines hit each other, we sat up, and for about six minutes we were properly enjoying ourselves. Then the second half takes a turn we will not describe, and after it the film is monster after monster and building after building, and somewhere in the last half hour we realised we had stopped minding whether the city stood. That is a failure in a film whose whole promise is that a city falling down will be exciting. We were not angry. We were checking the runtime, which is 111 minutes and feels longer.

Against the first film this is tidier and hollower; against the *Transformers* films it is a model of manners. If you have a twelve-year-old who wants to see robots punch things, this will do and you will not hate it. If you loved the first one for its weather and its sorrow, watch that again instead.

*Fi1m score 52, published 18 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

The reviews split almost down the middle, with a slight tilt towards the favourable. Nearly everyone agrees on John Boyega, whose charm and humour are credited with keeping the film watchable, and a good number of British critics find the sequel an improvement on the original, with a more coherent plot and better-paced action. The giant-robot spectacle is generally judged to deliver what fans want, and several describe it as unpretentious, likeable nonsense.

The reservations cluster around what has gone with del Toro: the visual poetry and the eccentric design. Many find the fights repetitive and the characters interchangeable, and the harsher notices call it formulaic, committee-built and cynical. The spread is wide. IndieWire gives it a B+ while The Wrap finds no fun in it at all, and The Telegraph goes further than most, calling it cheap-looking and muddled. Slant Magazine is the odd one out, arguing it is stranger and less predictable than the original.

### Reviews we read (27)

- **IndieWire**, David Ehrlich (B+): This bland sequel is only a minor improvement on the original; it corrects some mistakes while highlighting eccentric charms but remains largely unremarkable. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/pacific-rim-uprising-review-john-boyega-1201940986/)
- **Little White Lies**, Hannah Strong (3/4/3): Boyega's natural charisma keeps the film watchable despite the absence of del Toro. It offers solid, scrappy fun with giant robot action but lacks the poetry and soul of the predecessor. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/pacific-rim-uprising)
- **Slant Magazine** (3/4): Steven S. DeKnight’s sequel lacks del Toro’s visual acumen but makes up for it with energetic chaos and hedges closer to nightmarish intensity; it is a more fascinating and unpredictable creation than its predecessor. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/pacific-rim-uprising/)
- **Empire**, Helen O'Hara (70/100, inferred): Uprising offers more gonzo invention and giddy destruction than the original, with DeKnight twisting the franchise in surprising directions. The action delivers spectacular property damage and thrills beyond recent Transformers films, though it rushes through character beats. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/pacific-rim-uprising-review/)
- **Sight and Sound**, Kim Newman (70/100, inferred): The critic finds the sequel lightly likeable and an improvement over the original thanks to more coherent plotting and human characterisation. John Boyega's charismatic lead performance is singled out for praise. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/pacific-rim-uprising-review-john-boyega-adds-fettle-metal)
- **The Guardian** (70/100, inferred): The sequel improves on the original thanks to John Boyega’s charisma and a more cohesive plot with better-paced action scenes. It has a goofy likability and slick entertainment value despite a thin story. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/mar/20/pacific-rim-uprising-review-john-boyegas-charm-buoys-goofy-sequel)
- **The Independent** (70/100, inferred): The film delivers noisy, brash crash-bang-wallop entertainment that becomes pleasurable once viewers adjust to the decibel level and destruction. Boyega brings likeable heroism and humour as the lead, giving the project a tongue-in-cheek quality absent from similar blockbusters. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/pacific-rim-uprising-review-john-boyega-steven-s-deknight-a8265826.html)
- **The New York Times**, Glenn Kenny (Critic’s Pick): The critic finds the sequel adroit and enjoyable as giant-robot sci-fi action, with better-than-average sequences and amiable humor. He singles out its ability to hit a nostalgic Godzilla sweet spot. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/21/movies/pacific-rim-uprising-review-john-boyega.html)
- **The Times**, Kevin Maher (★★★☆☆): An unpretentious, workmanlike and bone-headed sequel that is better than the first film, led by John Boyega’s skittish charisma. It is set mostly in China and proudly unpretentious. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/article/film-review-pacific-rim-uprising-f02m2b2x6)
- **Total Film** (70/100, inferred): Boyega adds real bounce to proceedings while DeKnight delivers the expected giant-robot spectacle. The sequel provides the fun, larger-than-life kaiju action fans expect. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/pacific-rim-uprising-review/)
- **Vulture** (65/100, inferred): The film is dumb and formulaic but still zesty enough to carry through its set pieces, with a cynical market-driven approach that includes substantial Chinese elements and thrilling moments in the suits. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2018/03/pacific-rim-uprising-review.html)
- **Radio Times**, Alan Jones (5.6/10): The film is a disjointed sequel with repetitive monster mayhem that makes little sense. It delivers expected city-smashing action and punches above its weight as mindless junk entertainment. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-8er3wn/pacific-rim-uprising/)
- **Variety**, Nick Schager (45/100, inferred): The critic finds it a cartoony, unremarkable robot-monster spectacle that ditches the original’s distinctive elements for a Transformers-like approach lacking heft and imagination. He singles out the paint-by-numbers franchise construction and formulaic future installments. [Read](https://variety.com/2018/film/reviews/pacific-rim-uprising-review-1202726331/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Justin Chang (40/100, inferred): The critic calls it a bland, efficient, cheerfully witless sequel that is dumber and slighter than the original but more endurable. He notes the clunky noisy action and rock-’em-sock-’em appeal while admitting it is not really for him. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-pacific-rim-uprising-review-20180322-story.html)
- **The AV Club**, Baraka Kaseko, A.A. Dowd, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky (40/100, inferred): The follow-up contains little of the geeky enthusiasm of the original; it is an impersonal and sometimes tedious sequel that proves it is possible to screw up giant robots punching giant monsters. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/pacific-rim-uprising-proves-that-it-is-possible-to-scr-1823997019)
- **The Telegraph**, Robbie Collin (2/5): The film is atrocious and cheap-looking with muddled plotting that denies stars like Boyega space to shine. It tramples the original’s premise and feels like a committee-written cash-in with flat visuals. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/pacific-rim-uprising-review-cheap-shoddy-looking-may-have-made/)
- **Financial Times**, Nigel Andrews (★★☆☆☆): A parlously plotted sci-fi sequel that is the first cuckoo of spring, relying on special effects, music and hummable one-liners from John Boyega while planting a weak plot. It is brainless pop-tech apocalypse spectacle. [Read](https://www.ft.com/content/93669836-2d20-11e8-9b4b-bc4b9f08f381)
- **Screen Daily** (30/100, inferred): The sequel shifts focus to grand-scale fights between Jaegers and Kaijus with some fun from returning comic characters. Battles feel less poetic than the original, with daylight clarity highlighting the action but also its sameness. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/pacific-rim-uprising-review/5127608.article)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Frank Scheck (30/100, inferred): The sequel brings nothing new to the franchise except repetition and becomes tiresome in its cliched plotting and repetitive action sequences. It is strictly for those who left the original wanting more. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/pacific-rim-uprising-1095702/)
- **Polygon**, Susana Polo (70/100, inferred): The critic calls it surprisingly enjoyable nonsense that delivers fun robot-vs-monster action and commits fully to its mythology if you liked the first film, but notes weaker logic, character work, design, and scale. [Read](https://www.polygon.com/2018/3/21/17145582/pacific-rim-uprising-review-john-boyega/)
- **Den of Geek**, Don Kaye (3/5): The critic finds it fast-moving and moderately entertaining with impressive action sequences, but criticizes it for being a generic remix with interchangeable characters, unmemorable robots and monsters, and a sense that it evaporates after viewing. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/pacific-rim-uprising-review/)
- **/Film**, Karen Han (6/10): The first half is weighed down by heavy exposition and broadly sketched characters, but the second half becomes a joyful, cartoonish romp with coherent, colorful action sequences. Boyega's charm and the eccentric returning characters provide highlights amid the absurdity. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/557105/pacific-rim-uprising-review/)
- **HeyUGuys**, Zehra Phelan (3/5): The film delivers the same bombastic robot-vs-monster action as the first but with more teenage angst, muddled plotting, and a lack of invention, making it forgettable overall. Boyega's effortless charm and wit give it a slight edge and elevate the material. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/pacific-rim-uprising-review/)
- **Collider**, Matt Goldberg (C): The critic praises John Boyega's charismatic lead performance and the film's serviceable giant robot action but faults it for lacking the original's energy, design, world-building, and personality, calling it a pale imitation. [Read](https://collider.com/pacific-rim-2-review/)
- **NME**, Alex Flood (2/5): The critic calls it an aggressively commercial bore-fest that risks tarnishing the original's memory, with too many shallow characters, a bloated runtime, and repetitive action scenes that grow boring despite some clever twists. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/pacific-rim-uprising-film-review-john-boyega-2271466)
- **Consequence** (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the sequel scatterbrained and exhausting, losing the original's geeky exhilaration and failing at coherent storytelling and fight choreography, though John Boyega's charm provides occasional bright spots. [Read](https://consequence.net/2018/03/film-review-pacific-rim-uprising-stands-tall-onscreen-but-falls-short-before-long/)
- **The Wrap**, Dan Callahan (20/100, inferred): The critic finds the sequel formulaic and cynical, with no fun or emotional pull. They single out the lack of stakes and the uninteresting monsters and robots as the main complaint. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/pacific-rim-uprising-film-review-john-boyega/)

## Details

- **Director:** Steven S. DeKnight
- **Director:** Steven S. DeKnight
- **Writer:** T.S. Nowlin, Steven S. DeKnight, Emily Carmichael, Kira Snyder
- **Cinematography:** Dan Mindel
- **Editor:** Zach Staenberg
- **Music:** Lorne Balfe
- **Production design:** Paul Denham Austerberry, Stefan Dechant
- **Costume design:** Lizz Wolf
- **Producer:** Guillermo del Toro, Jon Jashni, Thomas Tull
- **Cast:** John Boyega as Jake Pentecost; Scott Eastwood as Nate Lambert; Cailee Spaeny as Amara Namani; Jing Tian as Liwen Shao; Rinko Kikuchi as Mako Mori; Burn Gorman as Dr. Hermann Gottlieb; Adria Arjona as Jules Reyes; Zhang Jin as Marshal Quan
- **Runtime:** 1h 51m
- **Certificate (MPA):** PG-13
- **Release (the US):** 23 March 2018
- **Genres:** Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Adventure
- **Budget:** $150 million
- **Box office:** $290 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BAhwgjMvnM

## Where to watch in the US

- HBO Max: streaming
- Amazon Prime Video: add-on
- The Roku Channel: add-on, hd
- Hulu: add-on, hd
- Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $7.99, uhd
- Apple TV: buy $14.99, hd

*Checked 2026-09-18.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, AZ, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *Pacific Rim* (2013), Fi1m 70: The original, fought in rain and darkness, with the weight and sorrow this one drops — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/pacific-rim.md)
- *Shin Godzilla* (2016): A monster film that is mostly committee meetings, and far tenser for it
- *Attack the Block* (2011), Fi1m 84: Boyega at nineteen, holding a south London estate against aliens on no budget — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/attack-the-block.md)
- *Neon Genesis Evangelion* (1995): Teenagers in giant robots, taken seriously enough to break them
- *Real Steel* (2011): Smaller robots, a father, a son and a boxing ring; more feeling than it has any right to

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/pacific-rim-uprising