The trailer for Pacific Rim Uprising has landed, and it’s full of messy, mech ridiculousness and John Boyega looking epic, so I’m pretty on board.

You can definitely feel del Toro’s absence here – in ways that I suspect I’ll find both satisfying and saddening. Director Steven S. DeKnight’s just-go-for-it approach from Spartacus is all over this trailer, and the resulting melee of new weapons and multi-mech battle scenes is going to make me giddy with its Power Rangers ridiculousness. But it’s also going to leave me sad for the absence of del Toro’s more graceful, poetic approach to monstrousness. Even at its most ridiculous, Pacific Rim was beautifully shot, and this sequel looks a little more workmanlike and cluttered so far.

At their New York Comic Con (NYCC) panel, the cast and crew described the plot of the new movie. According to The Verge’s writeup, “the film takes place 10 years after Guillermo del Toro’s 2013 original, and [] the Pan Pacific Defense Corps has been redesigned from the ground up to work together as an international fighting force. Leading them is the Gipsy Avenger robot, the successor to Gipsy Danger.” Other Jaeger names include Bracer Phoenix, Saber Athena, and Titan Redeemer, so fear not – they’re clearly keeping to the spirit of the original.

Below are some of the highlights from the trailer.

John Boyega looking epic:

John Boyega looking epic again:

Spinning nonsense chainsaw-cannonball-mace:

Glowing robot swords:

Drift Compatibility:

And lastly, this perfect pantsuit-wearing queen:

What’d you think of the new trailer?

(Via The Verge; images via screengrab)

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