Starring John Boyega, Scott Eastwood, Jing Tian, Cailee Spaeny, Rinko Kikuchi, Burn Gorman

Directed by Steven S. DeKnight

Universal, out now

Ten years after the Battle of the Breach, the Kaiju return – but not as humanity might expect…

It’s only a year since Independence Day Resurgence arrived, a movie that in hindsight really was a lot of sound and fury (and destruction) signifying nothing. That sequel took 20 years to make; Pacific Rim got its own continuation a mere five years after the Guillermo del Toro giant robots vs giant monsters original, and while it’s fun as you’re watching it, as with the ID4 sequel, it does feel like film making by the numbers. It’s not so much a case of Chekov’s gun, as Chekov’s damn great bazooka hanging on the wall, with action and character beats heavily telegraphed in the script.

That’s not to knock the spectacle of it; that still comes across well on the home screen. The sequences as Jaeger battles Jaeger are terrific, and everyone involved throws themselves whole-heartedly into their roles (Burn Gorman in particular seems to be having a whale of a time), even if the backstories for some of the new characters seem a bit overcomplicated.

The Bluray features a solo commentary from director DeKnight that probably would have benefitted from someone for him to play off, and there are loads of shorter pieces on aspects of the world.

Verdict: Fun if inessential continuation of the franchise. 7/10

Paul Simpson