I watched the first Pacific Rim, because I like director Guillermo del Toro, but I found it to be fairly underwhelming. This sequel was not directed by del Toro, only produced. I wasn’t really looking forward to watching it, and maybe the lowered expectations helped make it more enjoyable. At the core, it is a larger-than-life special effects driven robot/mech movie and that’s really all you get. The characters aren’t very fleshed out or memorable. John Boyega plays the main character and when his sister dies, there is very little emotion or care involved. The dialogue is cringe-worthy at parts and some of the situations or events that lead to various other situations are beyond predictable. The cliches are strong with this one.

The visuals are good and it started out OK. I just want more substance and less of the throwaway stylistic action special effects. This movie is an improvement over the first, but it only goes so far. It could be so much better with just a little bit more character development and engaging story.

Rating: