Pacific Rim (the big general thread)

[Mac Daddy MM]

And I bring this thread back from the dead!

Ok, no. No new information for a new movie, game or TV series yet. I just wanted to resurrect this thread and post some thoughts. I just watched both Pacific Rim and Pacific Rim: Uprising back-to-back for, I think, the first time since PR:U was released to home video. Yeah, the first film is still the better of the two and that doesn't need much more to say. However, I think my feelings on PR:U have mellowed out over time. Yeah, still not as good but, IMO, it's far from a bad movie. It's not perfect by any means, but I think it's a fine, turn your brain off kaiju flick.

My biggest complaint about PR:U is still the waste of Obsidian Fury. They really should have utilized him more, maybe keep his demise for the end of the film in Tokyo. But besides that, everything is still still solid material. The end fight, a big Hollywood city battle with buildings being destroyed... SET IN DAY TIME. And while I do find the idea of the teen pilots eye rolling and dumb, at least they're not as poorly done as some other teenage heroes in cinema (looking at you, Transformers). Plus, Charlie Day's character into a villain wasn't that hard a pill to swallow. Given his love for kaiju in the first movie, it almost feels natural for him to eventually change sides, with or without alien mind control. I do expect, if we ever see this storyline completed and his character (played/voiced by Day or not), that Newt will be freed of alien control and redeem himself in the end. It'd actually be REALLY interesting to see Newt freed of his alien masters, but still linked to a handful of kaiju so we see some kaiju on kaiju action.

[Cryptid_Liker]

And I bring this thread back from the dead!

Ok, no. No new information for a new movie, game or TV series yet. I just wanted to resurrect this thread and post some thoughts. I just watched both Pacific Rim and Pacific Rim: Uprising back-to-back for, I think, the first time since PR:U was released to home video. Yeah, the first film is still the better of the two and that doesn't need much more to say. However, I think my feelings on PR:U have mellowed out over time. Yeah, still not as good but, IMO, it's far from a bad movie. It's not perfect by any means, but I think it's a fine, turn your brain off kaiju flick.

My biggest complaint about PR:U is still the waste of Obsidian Fury. They really should have utilized him more, maybe keep his demise for the end of the film in Tokyo. But besides that, everything is still still solid material. The end fight, a big Hollywood city battle with buildings being destroyed... SET IN DAY TIME. And while I do find the idea of the teen pilots eye rolling and dumb, at least they're not as poorly done as some other teenage heroes in cinema (looking at you, Transformers). Plus, Charlie Day's character into a villain wasn't that hard a pill to swallow. Given his love for kaiju in the first movie, it almost feels natural for him to eventually change sides, with or without alien mind control. I do expect, if we ever see this storyline completed and his character (played/voiced by Day or not), that Newt will be freed of alien control and redeem himself in the end. It'd actually be REALLY interesting to see Newt freed of his alien masters, but still linked to a handful of kaiju so we see some kaiju on kaiju action.

What about Mako's death? That was my least favorite part of the film.

[Mac Daddy MM]

And I bring this thread back from the dead!

Ok, no. No new information for a new movie, game or TV series yet. I just wanted to resurrect this thread and post some thoughts. I just watched both Pacific Rim and Pacific Rim: Uprising back-to-back for, I think, the first time since PR:U was released to home video. Yeah, the first film is still the better of the two and that doesn't need much more to say. However, I think my feelings on PR:U have mellowed out over time. Yeah, still not as good but, IMO, it's far from a bad movie. It's not perfect by any means, but I think it's a fine, turn your brain off kaiju flick.

My biggest complaint about PR:U is still the waste of Obsidian Fury. They really should have utilized him more, maybe keep his demise for the end of the film in Tokyo. But besides that, everything is still still solid material. The end fight, a big Hollywood city battle with buildings being destroyed... SET IN DAY TIME. And while I do find the idea of the teen pilots eye rolling and dumb, at least they're not as poorly done as some other teenage heroes in cinema (looking at you, Transformers). Plus, Charlie Day's character into a villain wasn't that hard a pill to swallow. Given his love for kaiju in the first movie, it almost feels natural for him to eventually change sides, with or without alien mind control. I do expect, if we ever see this storyline completed and his character (played/voiced by Day or not), that Newt will be freed of alien control and redeem himself in the end. It'd actually be REALLY interesting to see Newt freed of his alien masters, but still linked to a handful of kaiju so we see some kaiju on kaiju action.

What about Mako's death? That was my least favorite part of the film.

As unflattering as this is going to come across... I really didn't care. I don't care for her character in the first movie either. Just another cliche orphan that grows up to hunt what killed her parents. If this was DC, she'd just be a female Batman with blue hair. If they would have killed Raleigh in that way instead, I think it would have made more of an impact to me. Alas, at least he's still alive for future material should the franchise continue in the future. And I'd rather have him than Mako.

[UltramanGoji]

Damn, shit taste dunking on Mako like that.

According to the tie-in novel, Raleigh is dead too. Died of radiation poisoning, apparently. Legendary's monster movie sequels have a weird fascination with wiping the slate clean of characters from the first movie.

[Gigantis]

Honestly i just don't like the fact they gave Mako a sibling in the first place. Didn't the prequel novel state that their father couldn't even have kids and that was why he adopted.

[UltramanGoji]

Honestly i just don't like the fact they gave Mako a sibling in the first place. Didn't the prequel novel state that their father couldn't even have kids and that was why he adopted.

I've never read any of the books besides Tales from Year Zero, Tales from the Drift, and the film novelization but I don't recall there ever being anything that said he couldn't have kids.

[Gigantis]

Honestly i just don't like the fact they gave Mako a sibling in the first place. Didn't the prequel novel state that their father couldn't even have kids and that was why he adopted.

I've never read any of the books besides Tales from Year Zero, Tales from the Drift, and the film novelization but I don't recall there ever being anything that said he couldn't have kids.

Ugh, maybe i'm just misremembering things. It was either that or that he didn't have a wife to have a child with anyway.

[tbeasley]

The writing was on the wall with Raleigh and Mako when del Toro left the project. It sucks but you should've seen that coming.

What bothered me most about Uprising was making Newt a villain and not really developing or concluding it properly - that sequel tag ending is really lame. Gottlieb however was my favorite part - it was great seeing a character actor like Burn Gorman showcased like that.

There's also the obvious pandering to the Chinese market right out of a horrible Transformers sequel.

[Angilasman]

What about Mako's death? That was my least favorite part of the film.

That was the moment I threw my hands up and said the movie didn't count. Just a big budget example of fanfiction. I love the original Pacific Rim, but that sequel was the kind of movie the people who hated the original I thought the original was, you know what I mean? At least it has the dubious honor of taking Godzilla 1998's crown away for the title of worst Hollywood Kaiju movie!


Anyway, it sapped my desire to see any further continuation of the franchise. If it's not going to be good, then why bother? It's obvious that Guillermo del Toro and Beacham understood the genre and everyone in their place didn't have the same handle on the material.

[tbeasley]

I think Uprising had its heart in the right place, unlike G98. You can tell DeKnight likes kaiju and mecha and all that. But his approach to the material is such a standard, pedestrian version of that world with all the typical elements of Hollywood films that del Toro tried to avoid. That and all the inevitable creative meddling from studios/execs that come from this sort of thing.

[UltramanGoji]

I think Uprising had its heart in the right place, unlike G98.

It absolutely fucking wasn't. DeKnight and executive producer John Boyega actively had no idea what the fuck the original Pacific Rim was about, like, or even supposed to be.

That and all the inevitable creative meddling from studios/execs that come from this sort of thing.

All of the worst things from PRU had nothing to do with executive meddling. DeKnight even defended one of them (Mako's death) shoddily.

[tbeasley]

Alright simmer down now.

[Angilasman]

I feel bad for DeKnight. It's his first feature, after all. I don't fully lay the blame at his feet, as it feels like there were a lot of cooks in the kitchen. It was pretty educational, as someone who followed the production somewhat: no one intends to make a bad movie when they start out, but once certain decisions are set in stone they become hard to reverse, compound over time, and things about a movie that seem obviously bad to an audience member watching the completed film can be hard to see in the production process when you don't have an exceptionally talented and knowledgeable person or team of persons at the helm, often feilding the requests and impositions from other forces and knowing how to mitigate or compromise in those situations... it's just really hard to make a movie.

Godzilla 1998, whatever you think about it, is a much more competently put together piece of work. It's largely well-cast, and Emmerich is an often hokey but nevertheless solid director. The problems with the film, besides misunderstanding the Godzilla character and what people want from a Godzilla movie, seem mostly to stem from the quickly written script, which starts out interesting but gradually loses all forward momentum and then invests too much time in character motivations that are banal.

[UltramanGoji]

Alright simmer down now.

Sorry if I sounded aggressive at you, that wasn't my intention.

It's just that PRU is my absolute least favorite film ever made, like out of every movie I've seen nothing has ever personally insulted my intelligence and expectations as an audience member like PRU. It's almost disturbing how absolutely wrong they got with everything.

[JAGzilla]

I maintain that people are writing off the PR series too quickly. What if Japanese audiences had been like this in 1955? We got one bad sequel, so now we don't want any more of this franchise? What if the next one is the KKvG equivalent?

[Gigantis]

What if the next one is the KKvG equivalent?

Assuming at this point we even get one considering most Hollywood franchises that leave with a dissapointing box office usually don't less you do it ahead of time.

[NSZ]

Alright simmer down now.

Sorry if I sounded aggressive at you, that wasn't my intention.

It's just that PRU is my absolute least favorite film ever made, like out of every movie I've seen nothing has ever personally insulted my intelligence and expectations as an audience member like PRU. It's almost disturbing how absolutely wrong they got with everything.

"Mt. Fuji was always the target" and them trying to defend that ass-pull will never not make me wanna smash my head against a wall.

[JAGzilla]

What if the next one is the KKvG equivalent?

Assuming at this point we even get one considering most Hollywood franchises that leave with a dissapointing box office usually don't less you do it ahead of time.

Yeah, I don't expect another one. Not anytime soon, at least. But who knows, maybe if GvK manages to make bank, someone at Legendary will want to give their other kaiju property another shot, maybe get two successful series going. Or if the Monsterverse does end, they could continue PR as a replacement.

[gottatalktothefake]

Alright simmer down now.

Sorry if I sounded aggressive at you, that wasn't my intention.

It's just that PRU is my absolute least favorite film ever made, like out of every movie I've seen nothing has ever personally insulted my intelligence and expectations as an audience member like PRU. It's almost disturbing how absolutely wrong they got with everything.

"Mt. Fuji was always the target" and them trying to defend that ass-pull will never not make me wanna smash my head against a wall.

PRU actually fucking hurt me with how stupid it was. Did they just not remember that the first kaiju literally went in the opposite direction of Japan? Or that like 90% of kaiju didn't attack Japan at all.

[Demon Lord Gira]

Sorry if I sounded aggressive at you, that wasn't my intention.

It's just that PRU is my absolute least favorite film ever made, like out of every movie I've seen nothing has ever personally insulted my intelligence and expectations as an audience member like PRU. It's almost disturbing how absolutely wrong they got with everything.

"Mt. Fuji was always the target" and them trying to defend that ass-pull will never not make me wanna smash my head against a wall.

PRU actually fucking hurt me with how stupid it was. Did they just not remember that the first kaiju literally went in the opposite direction of Japan? Or that like 90% of kaiju didn't attack Japan at all.

That's the wonderful world of a movie born and molded out of executive meddling and frankenstein drafts for you. Universal didn't want a faithful followup to PR, they wanted their own movie, and that's exactly what they got.

As for DeKnight, you have to remember that Hollywood is a voracious hellhole to keep your job as director, especially with the internet and how easy it is for fans AND the higher ups of distributors and producers to know each and every thing a director says. DeKnight can't just come out and say "Yeah, everything was screwed up by Universal", or otherwise he's never seeing another directing job there again, because not just Universal, but ANY big distributor or producer wants nothing to do with someone willing to squeal about behind the scenes turmoil or meddling. They want obedient yesmen who do as they're told, won't talk back, and will take all the blame when the movie they meddled in goes up in flames. Most directors have no choice BUT to act out that yes man until their directing days are over, or they just don't care anymore, so it doesn't surprise me to see DeKnight defend one of the movie's dumb decisions. He defends it, all the fans hate and rage at him. He doesn't, he's never seeing another job as director ever again, and good luck finding a job with so many people desperately seeking work all over the place, even back then.