With Pacific Rim Uprising hitting screens this week, we’ve been grilling writer-director Steven DeKnight about what to expect from the action sequel. He’s already spilled the beans regarding the new Jaegers. And now we’ve got the lowdown on the next generation of Kaiju wreaking havoc on the planet. So with that mind, BEWARE OF PACIFIC RIM UPRISING SPOILERS below…
Shrikethorn
Shrikethorn is a ‘Category 4’ Kaiju.
Steven DeKnight: “With the Kaiju, we wanted to take a page from video games and have that ‘Y’ button, that special ability. Shrikethorn has energised spikes that it can throw.”
Hakuja
Hakuja is a ‘Category 4’ Kaiju that’s like a giant cross between an alligator, a praying mantis and a mole.
DeKnight: “Hakuja is the Kaiju that can burrow underground”, while this beast can also fire Plasma Spears.
Raijin
A ‘Category 5’ Kaiju, Raijin is the most powerful of the new creatures, with visual effects supervisor Peter Chiang describing the monster as “bi-pedal” and “more T-Rex like” with “a Venus-flytrap head that enables him to close up in defence mode.”
DeKnight: “[Pan Pacific Defense Corps scientist] Gottlieb calls Raijin the big fellow, and it has these massive armoured plates around its head that it can close up and absorb the energy from an attack, store it, then throw back at the Jaegers. Raijin’s the most dangerous because he’s very difficult to hurt.”
Mega-Kaiju
The new Kaiju can strategise and work together as a team. And if you’ve watched the film’s most recent trailer, you’ll know that they can band together to form a giant monster.
DeKnight: “The Kaiju combine into what we call ‘Mega-Kaiju’ which is basically the best, or worst if you will, of the three Kaiju. It’s much bigger than a Jaeger; it towers over them. And it carries over some of the abilities, particularly the ability to absorb energy hits and throw them back, which it uses in the movie.”
Pacific Rim Uprising hits screens this Friday (March 23).