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It’s followed by a zippy collection of scenes introducing Boyega’s character, who plays like a slightly less developed cocktail of Han Solo and the Star Trek reboot’s Kirk. While the film undoubtedly picked up a much bigger audience on the smaller screen there’s still a much-needed “previously on Pacific Rim” opening montage that wisely plays to a new crowd who might have missed the first chapter. It’s good timing as, despite the world moving on from the terrifying events before, it looks like it might be about to happen again. But when he’s arrested yet again his sister (Rinko Kikuchi, who remains as unmemorable as she was in the original) steps in and forces him back into his old job, along with a scrappy orphan (newcomer Cailee Spaeny, whose upcoming filmography suggests she is going to be one of the year’s biggest breakouts) he’s picked up along the way.
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He’s a burnout, having left his position in the Jaeger Academy (where plucky recruits train to control those giant robots) and instead makes his money by selling black market scraps left over from the war 10 years prior. The Star Wars alumnus plays Jake, the son of Idris Elba’s deceased general from the first outing. The second time around, director Guillermo del Toro has taken a step back with just a producer credit (he’s too busy winning Oscars to be involved in such frippery) and a retooled cast is in place, with John Boyega’s effortless charisma taking over from Charlie Hunnam’s total lack of it. It underperformed stateside with just $101m in the bank, a problematic result given the $190m budget, but it was easily translatable overseas and a worldwide total of $411m (helped mainly by Chinese audiences) meant that a sequel was deemed a worthy pursuit. Such B-movie mayhem proved a difficult sell for audiences.