It’s no secret that I’m a fan of giant monster movies..and giant robot movies. Combine those two, and you hit the glorious level of giant monsters vs giant robots. 2013’s Pacific Rim was director Guillermo del Toro’s love letter to that genre. Now we are finally getting a sequel titled Pacific Rim: Uprising, starring John Boyega as the son of Major Pentacost from the first film. Del Toro will be returning, but in the capacity of executive producer.

Steven S. DeKnight will be taking over the director’s chair, who has a great resume so far: creating, writing, and producing the hit Starz show Spartacus (along with working on the follow-ups), as well as being the show runner for the first season of Netflix’s Daredevil. He’s also been involved with shows like Buffy, Angel, and Smallville, so DeKnight should definitely know how to tell a good story.

This is the second trailer for Pacific Rim Uprising and gives a little more intro into the story for the sequel. Take a look:

While I’m personally hyped for this movie, I’ve seen quite a bit of negative reactions so far compared to the first; specifically that it doesn’t seem as dark and that the feel of the new one is too similar to that of the newer iterations of transformers or power rangers. There’s even been some super nerdy complaints that the Jagers are moving faster than machines their size should be able to.

I see where those complaints are coming from, but at the end of the day we’re talking about a movie where monsters attack from another dimension, and the people of earth build giant robots they can pilot to fight them. Maybe if I were an engineer it would be harder to overlook, but accepting the premise of the movie, I’m willing to throw physics out the window for 90 mins. It is hilarious to hear people crying out in anger, like the first film was some sort of cinematic masterpiece. Even though I enjoyed the hell out of it, let’s be clear: it was not. However what made Pacific Rim great is that it knew what it was and was not…and it stuck to it

Uprising, at least from the trailer, truly does not look as “dark” as the first. However, the reason for that is 90% of the first movie took place at night, whereas this trailer shows nothing but fights taking place during the day. I think that will end up being a smart change of pace to keep the visuals fresh.

I will say that I hope at least one fight takes place at night, as one of my favorite scenes from the first is the Hong Kong battle. The neon lights of the city reflecting off buildings and contrasting with the darkness was straight up eye candy. Most of the Kaiju’s had sections of their bodies which even glowed neon, which of course stands out better at night.

I’m excited that most of the original cast (that survived) is returning, and I honestly think John Boyega will do a better job than Charlie Hunnam did as leading pilot. I’m also curious to see how Scott Eastwood, Clint’s son, does in his role. This movie obviously will not be for everyone. As a huge fan of the first though, I say bring it on!

Pacific Rim Uprising releases March 23rd in theaters. Are you excited for this movie or just kind of meh?