Pacific Rim: Uprising was never going to be better than Guillermo del Toro’s elegantly made version released in 2013. It’s now becoming sci-fi tradition, sequels not matching up to the acclaim of their first volumes. Uprising has a 45% score on Rotten Tomatoes, a considerable dip when compared to the 71% rating that Pacific Rim racked up. I can almost imagine director Steven S. DeKnight having a round-table meeting with Universal Pictures execs and saying before Uprising‘s production, “You know what? Let’s have fun with this.”

I was skeptical about one thing though: Steven S. DeKnight’s portfolio is very much grounded in TV work, starting from the 2007 murder mystery show Viva Laughlin as executive producer, and then screenwriter and director for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Smallville, Spartacus, and Marvel’s Daredevil. But film is a whole different beast. 2013’s Pacific Rim, which notably features your favourite Hollywood hunk Idris Elba, is memorable for its bombastic CGI and engulfing chaos. And not forgetting this rousing speech by Jaeger pilot Stacker Pentecost, as he charges the other pilots into defending the world from extinction.

Guillermo del Toro has seen enough of Idris Elba in British crime drama Luther to cast him in the role of Stacker Pentecost. Charisma, charm, and masculine bravado. Stacker sacrifices his life to secure humanity’s victory against the Kaiju, colossal sea monsters from a portal in the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. In Uprising, these monsters reappear to wreck havoc on the world, but first a voiceover from Jake Pentecost (John Boyega). Though a former Jaeger pilot, Jake indicates from the beginning that he is not like his hero father. And evidently, we see him partying with friends to Wizkid’s dancehall banger Daddy Yo, which made the headlines in 2017 when it was announced to feature in the film. Boyega dancing drew laughter from the audience in the theatre, I have to say.

Uprising is Boyega’s producer debut. And in Steven S. Deknight’s directorial sleight of hand, Jake is aloof as they come, blinded by reckless youth. He makes a living by stealing and selling Jaeger parts on the black market in Carlifornia, and subsequently runs into the secret workshop of teen Jaeger enthusiast Amara Naman (Cailee Spaney). But they are soon arrested by the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps for trespassing the area. And remember Jake is a thief? So he should land in prison. When his adoptive sister and PPDC General Secretary Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) presents the choice of going to prison or returning to the PPDC as a pilot instructor for Amara, Jake is wise to take the pilot job.

And this is where Uprising shifts into towering robots and high-powered tech, community and  bonds between the other younger recruits like Amara. It’s all dazzling and virtuosic. Former pilot Nate Lambert (Scot Eastwood) is also recruited into the PPDC, and he patrols the place with blistering cuteness, so much so that Jake makes fun of his good looks. But Jake’s richest conversations are in the banter with Amara. They are both, in a way, still dealing with the scars of loss. As we already know, Jake lost his father in the Kaiji war, but Amara lost her family when the aliens emerged from the sea. The first Kaiji attack in Uprising leaves behind a relatively large scale of destruction. Spoiler alert: Jake’s sister dies in a helicopter crash, simultaneously with Jake evacuating his Jaegar and running towards the smouldering ruins.

Uprising doesn’t have much a story to tell. But the real pleasure, though, is aesthetic: precise camera movements that map the space of the monsters versus robots fight scenes, to familiarise us with the dangerous, hostile zones. Ambient sound designs that falls into the aural clichés of a near-apocalyptic end. To operate and control a Jaegar, co-pilots must be linked with their minds. And the young recruits, headed by Jake and Nate, lead them to war. “If my father were here, he’d have given you a pep talk.” Jake tells the young Jaegar pilots, in a scene similar to Stacker Pentecost’s speech.

I reckon Jake would have given his life if it came to that. In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, John Boyega as Finn suicidally pilots a disintegrating craft towards Kylon Ren and his mammoth army. He’s got it. But you know how it all ends. The world is saved in Uprising from an apocalypse that would have precipitated from Mount Fuji. And Jake and Amara get back to more banter. And it’s just one of the things they do best.