Pacific Rim: Uprising is a very, very different kaiju than its predecessor. Whereas the original Pacific Rim was created as an indulgent love letter of sorts to the giant robo anime and culture that had inspired its creation, Uprising is more akin to a live-action anime in of itself. Del Toro’s careful reverence and awe for his Jaeger creations is more or less wholly absent from this installment in favor of a more action-packed, fight driven dynamic. Uprising chooses to make fun and thrills a top priority, and save for a few jokes that verge on being tolerated rather than well-received, it manages to do so very well. The visuals are gorgeous, and while the Jaegers are not the slow, lumbering, imposing behemoths they were in the first movie, these faster models make the fights interesting enough to make realism a bit of an afterthought. The action can at times be a bit nonsensical and lead to some head-scratching moments (wanton destruction of buildings, a colossal steel robot wall-jumping off of a glass skyscraper instead of just going through it like cheap cardboard), but the movie is decently paced, and the writing is for the most part, thoroughly entertaining, giving us an enjoyable villain, a nemesis jaeger, and an enjoyable conclusion. Overall, while a bit style-before-substance, Pacific Rim: Uprising is an entertaining watch for fans of the genre.