No offense to director Steven S. DeKnight, but it feels odd that a Pacific Rim sequel is not being directed by Guillermo del Toro. Yes, I know, the Mexican filmmaker is producing and came up with the story for the follow-up to his 2013 film, so some of his fingerprints will be on the final product, but it still feels wrong not having him at the helm. You could tell that he poured his heart and soul into the first film. And even though it wasn’t a gem by any means, it was one of the better big-budget original films to come out in the past five years — which is something Hollywood desperately needs to invest more resources into. Reboots, remakes, and the superhero genre can’t do all the heavy lifting.

Even so, cameras have begun rolling on Pacific Rim: Uprising, and the first videos and photos capturing the action on the Sydney, Australia set have started to surface. I’ve selected some of the better ones that feature explosions and gunfire. View them above and below.

Videos by ComicBook.com

Kaiju throwin dudes #pacificrim2 #pacificrimuprising #pacificrimmaelstrom #pacificrim #filmset #filming #stuntwork #barangaroo

A post shared by Ken Marlewski (@bigtimegeek) on Feb 3, 2017 at 1:09am PST

#pacificrim2 #action # noaction

A post shared by moby9669 (@moby9669) on Feb 2, 2017 at 4:39pm PST

Today, next to my work. Movie cast was filming movie scenes: #pacificrim2 #pacificrim #barangaroo #sydney #sydneyharbour

A post shared by Vladas_ze (@vladas_ze) on Jan 29, 2017 at 1:25am PST

When the streets of barangaroo are transformed for pacific rim 2 movie set #pacificrim2 #pacificrimuprising #stevendeknight #scotteastwood #comicbook #nexus6p #sydney #newsouthwales #australia @sydney #ilovesydney #nswtourmemories #traveling #awesomeglobe #travelpics #wanderlust #lonelyplanet #huffpostgram #crowdedhouse #igersydney tlpicks #instavsco #fantastic_earth #xplore_sydney #visitsydney #urbanphotography #instagood #picoftheday #urban #instadaily #pacificrim #pacificrimmaelstrom

A post shared by Swapnil Gupta (@swapnillgupta) on Feb 3, 2017 at 12:28am PST

When you’re charged with saving the world but still need help doing your buttons up

A post shared by Harvey Lovegrove (@lovegrove_andy) on Feb 4, 2017 at 12:03am PST

First look at vehicle props from #PacificRim2! Today we have your first look at some of the vehicle props which will be used in #PacificRimUprising / Pacific Rim 2! Snapped by a local Sydney based photographer, the following set photos show us a very heavily armored vehicle, with the PPDC (Pan Pacific Defense Corps) logo plastered on the rear panel. This particular vehicle we assume is utilized by PPDC ground forces, which against a massive Kaiju would render somewhat useless. However, in Pacific Rim, we learned the Kaiju were in a sense cloned, organic Jaeger type mechs themselves, to the Alien race which created them. It is possible that Pacific Rim: Uprising will introduce us to a war against both Kaiju and their Alien race, as they launch a large scale invasion of Earth! This would account for the need to have smaller, more nimble ground troops in addition to #Jaegers, since the hostile aliens controlling the Kaiju are relatively Human-sized themselves. In addition to the militant type vehicle above, another host of set photos show off a futuristic civilian vehicle, as well as what looks to be a Kaiju shelter or warning station. The graphics above big red buttons resemble the #Knifehead #Kaiju from the first #PacificRim movie. Big thanks to Tim for snapping those photos! @tango255 at Instagram Source: @scifiedcom

A post shared by @ AlexValdez1992 (@alexvaldez1992) on Feb 6, 2017 at 11:20am PST

John Boyega stars and will be joined by Scott Eastwood, Cailee Spaeny, and Jing Tian in Pacific Rim: Uprising. The cast also includes Levi Meaden, Adria Arjona, Rahart Adams. Karan Brar, Nick E. Tarabay, Ivanna Sakhno, Zhang Jin, Mackenyu, Shyrley Rodriguez, Wesley Wong, Lily Ji, Chen Zitong, Lan Yingying, and Qian Yongchen.

Pacific Rim: Uprising is currently being filmed, and is expected to hit theaters February 23, 2018. The original Pacific Rim earned $411 million worldwide, with $101 million of that coming domestically.

Are you excited for the Pacific Rim sequel? Let us know how hyped you are for it in our Anticipation Rankings below! Currently, our users have ranked the film as their #13 most-anticipated movie…