Pacific Rim Uprising very nearly wasn't a thing. The first movie from Guillermo Del Toro had its share of fans who love giant robots fighting giant monsters, but not enough of them. When the sequel was finally green lit, without Del Toro on board, it had also lost its original star, Charlie Hunnam. The question that had been left hanging in the air was whether his co-star (and the best part of Pacific Rim, let's keep it real) Rinko Kikuchi would be back. She's been kept off of the recent promo materials, but the newly-released synopsis confirms her return as Jaeger pilot, Mako Mori.
The plot details arrive days before the trailer debuts at New York Comic-Con. Mako is now leading the new wave of Jaeger pilots, which includes her adoptive brother, Jake Pentecost, played by John Boyega. Here's the synopsis:
The globe-spanning conflict between otherworldly monsters of mass destruction and the human-piloted super-machines built to vanquish them was only a prelude to the all-out assault on humanity in Pacific Rim Uprising.
John Boyega (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) stars as the rebellious Jake Pentecost, a once-promising Jaeger pilot whose legendary father gave his life to secure humanity’s victory against the monstrous “Kaiju.” Jake has since abandoned his training only to become caught up in a criminal underworld. But when an even more unstoppable threat is unleashed to tear through our cities and bring the world to its knees, he is given one last chance to live up to his father’s legacy by his estranged sister, Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi)—who is leading a brave new generation of pilots that have grown up in the shadow of war. As they seek justice for the fallen, their only hope is to unite together in a global uprising against the forces of extinction.
Jake is joined by gifted rival pilot Lambert (The Fate of the Furious’ Scott Eastwood) and 15-year-old Jaeger hacker Amara (newcomer Cailee Spaeny), as the heroes of the PPDC become the only family he has left. Rising up to become the most powerful defense force to ever walk the earth, they will set course for a spectacular all-new adventure on a towering scale.
Pacific Rim Uprising is directed by Steven S. DeKnight (Netflix’s Daredevil, STARZ’s Spartacus) and also stars Jing Tian, Burn Gorman, Adria Arjona and Charlie Day.
Let's hope Mako doesn't meet the same fate as Jake's father, the late Stacker Pentecost. Pacific Rim Uprising opens March 23rd 2018.
