Pacific Rim: Uprising follows up director Guillermo Del Toro’s love letter to giant robots who fight monsters with even more giant robots fighting even bigger monsters. The action and explosions come pretty quickly. And in all the excitement, it’s hard to pick up on some of the fun little details. But they’re there.
Uprising is packed with references and clever nods. Check out these favorite Easter eggs of ours and find them for yourself when Pacific Rim: Uprising is out on digital June 20.
NEWT’S A BIG NERD
Late in the story, we discover that previous hero Newton Geiszler is the real villain of the film thanks to his unfortunate mind-meld with a monster. And he proves this by reopening the rift in the Pacific Ocean to let kaiju out to attack Tokyo. Eagle-eyed viewers might have noticed that the protocol he deploys is called “Lima Victor 426.”
Fans of the Alien series might recognize the abbreviated form, LV-426, as the name of the xenomorph-infested planet from the first two entries. He must be a fan.
YOU KNOW THAT VOICE
Del Toro snuck a fun Easter egg for video game fans in the original movie by casting Portal actress Ellen McLain as the computer voice for the main Jaeger, Gipsy Danger. And she returns for the sequel to add further continuity to Danger’s successor, Gipsy Avenger.
McLain’s familiar tones provide a cool treat for those who could spot its brief appearance in Uprising. And we’re not sure we’d feel comfortable piloting a machine that sounds like an AI that killed a secret lab’s worth of scientists with neurotoxin. But maybe the Jaeger pilots don’t have those games in their universe.
THE OTHER BIG ROBOTS
The final showdown between our plucky team of robot pilots and the Megakaiju has so much going on that it’s hard to miss the fine details. But one of the physically biggest Easter eggs in the movie shows up during this sequence. And it’s not even hidden that well because the camera deliberately focuses on it, and it’s huge.
After Amara ejects from her damaged fighter, she lands in front of a museum with a huge statue in front of it. You could assume this was just another Jaeger design. But fans of the Pacific Rim-inspiring Gundam series will recognize it as an RX-0 “Unicorn” model from that franchise.
TWO IN ONE
The Unicorn Gundam isn’t the only reference to the earlier property. You can also see signs for Anaheim Electronics in the background of some shots in Tokyo. Anaheim Electronics is one of the fictional corporations that makes those mobile suits.
SISTERS OF THE KAIJU
Humanity reacted to the sudden appearance of city-destroying monsters emerging from the ocean in a variety of ways. And that makes sense because we have a lot of thoughts about that whole situation. Some groups, like the Sisters of the Kaiju, believed the beasts were divine, and they worshipped them.
You can spot some members of the Sisters in the huge protest scene near the beginning of Uprising.
FAMILIAR NAMES
Any time a character in a movie looks at a database, you’re guaranteed to spot an Easter egg or two in there. It’s easier and more fun to just put little jokes in your entries than it is to come up with all new ones. And the Kaiju records in Uprising are no exception. Entries include monsters from the Godzilla series and the building-sized baddie from Cloverfield.
HANNIBAL CHAU
Ron Perlman doesn’t return to reprise his role as black-marketer Hannibal Chau. And that’s unfortunate, but Uprising does offer the next best thing. When we’re getting a rundown of Jake Pentacost’s various misdeeds, a throwaway line reveals that he ran afoul of Chau.
ROMEO BLUE
You have to be a serious Pacific Rim fan to even know what Romeo Blue was, but we can help. It was an early Jaeger model that appears in the opening montage of the first movie. And if you look carefully, you’ll recognize its cameo in Uprising. It’s the Jaeger that Jake’s trying to grab the power core from near the start.
Remember to look for these fun surprises and more when Pacific Rim: Uprising is out on digital June 20.
