It's been 10 years since the end of the original movie. With no more Kaiju, the world is trying to rebuild. Jake Pentecost (John Boyega) ran from his father's heroic legacy and lives on the edges of the rebuilding civilization. He deals in black market and tries to steal from a decommissioned Jaeger. He is scooped by street kid Amara Namani who builds her own mini-Jaeger. They get arrested and his stepsister Mako Mori recruits him back into the program. Amara joins the other young cadets training to be pilots under Nate Lambert (Scott Eastwood). Ruthless industrialist Liwen Shao is pushing for Jaeger drones controlled remotely by a single operator with bumbling Dr. Newton Geiszler (Charlie Day) working under her.
The Guillermo del Toro style has been scrubbed down and transformed. Jake is a less than compelling lead which is not that different from the original. It starts with a lot attitude and a lot of fronting. Boyega does save it by his sheer charisma. The first movie is a kiddie idea taken seriously with fun. This one takes that serious take and injects some kiddie jokiness. It literally adds a Robin-like character. The attempts at jokes annoyed me. The city destruction has a sterile feel. There is still some fun to be had and it is still robots fighting monsters.
The Guillermo del Toro style has been scrubbed down and transformed. Jake is a less than compelling lead which is not that different from the original. It starts with a lot attitude and a lot of fronting. Boyega does save it by his sheer charisma. The first movie is a kiddie idea taken seriously with fun. This one takes that serious take and injects some kiddie jokiness. It literally adds a Robin-like character. The attempts at jokes annoyed me. The city destruction has a sterile feel. There is still some fun to be had and it is still robots fighting monsters.