Pacific Rim: Uprising

Going in: I didn't expect much. The franchise is a robot vs. monster concept and so you don't expect much in terms of character or plot. I did see it in 3D which I normally don't do but someone said it was completely worth it.

Popcorn: 7/10. It was a fun movie. I'd put it on par with the first one. The soundtrack was fun, the visuals done pretty well. If someone wanted to see it, I'd see it again without any hesitation.

Art: 6.5/10. We're not going for art here. Shout-out to the 3D planning and results. I'd recommend seeing it in 3D if you can just because it was well done.

Acting: 2/3. I love John Boyega, but I don't think he had much room to work with this movie. He did great, but the character was the normal tough guy, rebel character. It was the same with all the other actors as well. There was no one that made me think "They don't belong here". But it's a robot beat-em-up so I'm not sure I expect that much.

Music: 1/2. There are two parts of the soundtrack: the thumping rock and the more classical music. The thumping rock was as I expected (pretty good), but on the classical side, there was one moment where I knew what they were trying to do. It never quite got there.

Cinematography: 1/2. Most of these movies are CGI-laden and this was no exception. Some of the background shots were just beautiful and the color palette was noticeable - in a good way.

Art: 1/2. Good CGI and other departments were what you'd expect.

Editing: 2/2. The cutting was just fine. But the ending is what got me. I was very worried we were going to have 2 climaxes and 2 epilogues like most modern movies. Nope. Barely after the climax, we just end the movie. And it was a welcome change.

Story: 2/4. The story wasn't bad. It's just been used over and over. The characters were familiar and didn't really add anything new. There some subplots that never got resolved. The main subplots kind of related, but were more independent stories about different characters. Again, it wasn't bad, just very predictable - kind of in that in-between place. Oh, there was a plot twist that even my son didn't see coming which is saying a lot.

Directing: 2/3. I liked the movie, but again, it's not something that I'd look to be just plain awesome. Right team, little bit desired for story. I do have to say that seeing in 3D was a real treat. They handled both sides of the window very well and it was just fun. Worth the extra money.

Producing: 2/2. I wanted to have a place to put the 3D effort. They really put some thought into it and it made the movie a lot of fun without being overbearing.