Pacific Rim 2 - Part 1

[smallville fan]

This whole movie felt blah. When it ended, it just...ENDED and you're like "thats it?" You could definitely feel something went horribly wrong in post production behind the scenes with this one. Steven D Knight is responsible for some of my favorite tv series of all time (Spartacus and Daredevil) and I'm surprised that this is what came from him. It wasn't BAD but just so unremarkably blah. Its a movie you're going to forget as soon as the credits roll.

I feel like this is more or less the studio rather than the inexperienced in movies director they can use as a scapegoat. I think with a great script he can do wonders in a medium he's better at. The studio was lost without any input from Guillermo Del Toro.

I still maintain that this is the best Power Rangers movie though. Can Hasbro hire him? kthxbye

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Just watched the first film again for like the 20th time. It amazes me that they thought it was a good idea to not make an actual sequel.

 

[TheVileOne]

So, I finally saw this. Boy, was this disappointing. From the very beginning of this movie something just felt...off about it. I cannot quite articulate it, but the movie just didn't "feel" as big, and epic and grand as Del Toro's original. The movie felt extremely rushed, like it felt like there was easily 30-40mins cut out of it just so they can get to the battles faster. As a result, I didn't care about ANY of the characters. Boyega was doing his best to use his charm and charisma to carry the movie but he just couldn't. I had my issues with Charlie Hunnam's performance in the first one but at LEAST i bought Hunnam's chemistry and comradery with Mako and the other pilots. There was zero chemistry onscreen between Boyega, Eastwood and all those kid pilots whose names I cannot even remember. Again, I feel like there has to be lots of chaarcter development scenes that built relationships that were cut because, like Justice League, they wanted this movie to be a quick wham, bam thank you ma'am actionfest. And as a result it lacked the soul of the first one.

And even the action felt off. There were some cool visuals and cool moments but all in all it lacked that visual grandeur Del Torro brought to the first one. All of the daytime battles looked so blah.

This whole movie felt blah. When it ended, it just...ENDED and you're like "thats it?" You could definitely feel something went horribly wrong in post production behind the scenes with this one. Steven D Knight is responsible for some of my favorite tv series of all time (Spartacus and Daredevil) and I'm surprised that this is what came from him. It wasn't BAD but just so unremarkably blah. Its a movie you're going to forget as soon as the credits roll.

One thing that felt off was all the Chinese nationalism. It's sort of like how military movies would feel American jingoism, patriotism, etc.

This movie did the same thing, except for China.

 

[Filmfan93]

Just watched the first film again for like the 20th time. It amazes me that they thought it was a good idea to not make an actual sequel.

Well, Uprising IS an actual sequel. What do you mean?

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Well, Uprising IS an actual sequel. What do you mean?

They setup the characters and plot threads for an obvious continuation. Mako and Raleigh as the heroes at the end of the film. This is their beginning, they will be a legit crew going forward. They will be there when the baddies come back. And instead they just kill off the main characters, and treat it like a semi-reboot. I very much doubt this was GDT's original intention or idea for a sequel.

 

[Drizzle]

They setup the characters and plot threads for an obvious continuation. Mako and Raleigh as the heroes at the end of the film. This is their beginning, they will be a legit crew going forward. They will be there when the baddies come back. And instead they just kill off the main characters, and treat it like a semi-reboot. I very much doubt this was GDT's original intention or idea for a sequel.

While I agree they went in a strange direction by not continuing the story of the main characters from the first film, technically they only killed off Mako. They didn't say if Raleigh was alive or dead. I suppose they did that in case they decided to bring him back for a third film.

 

[Spider-Fan]

I think the change in story direction bothered me less because I just kind of thought Pacific Rim was very much a pleasure of style with a mediocre story. It's a good movie and I like it, but I would be lying if I said in recent viewings of the movie if I didn't tune it out during the "talky" parts of the movie. It just doesn't grab me in that way. I think Uprising is inferior to Pacific Rim, but again, I mainly watch it for the same things I watch the 1st one. Only difference is Uprising is stylistically less appealing overall. But I thought the movie was overall fine.

 

[Schlosser85]

While I agree they went in a strange direction by not continuing the story of the main characters from the first film, technically they only killed off Mako. They didn't say if Raleigh was alive or dead. I suppose they did that in case they decided to bring him back for a third film.

In early drafts of the script, Raleigh was supposed to be in it, but Charlie Hunnam wasn't available because of other projects, so they replaced him with Scott Eastwood's character.

 

[Filmfan93]

They setup the characters and plot threads for an obvious continuation. Mako and Raleigh as the heroes at the end of the film. This is their beginning, they will be a legit crew going forward. They will be there when the baddies come back. And instead they just kill off the main characters, and treat it like a semi-reboot. I very much doubt this was GDT's original intention or idea for a sequel.

Oh, sorry. I got what you mean.

Yes you are 100% right. They had everything set up perfectly and just threw it out of the window.

What they did to Mako...

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Watched this again on 4K, yes it’s not as good as the first and yes if GDT directed it would have been better, but I still enjoy this sequel a lot. Boyega is great as the lead, and while the CGI in some parts is poor, I find it mostly spot on in the battle scenes. And I really enjoy the battle scenes. Still think the Siberia battle is my favourite.

I actually also think this has better final battle than the first movie did, but nothing here touches the Hong Kong sequence in the first. I think DeKnight shows a lot of potential as an action director though, there are little moments in the battle scenes which are really well thought out and look great on screen. It’s a shame this franchise won’t continue, as it’s great turn off your brain action, but I hope DeKnight goes on from this and continues to show potential as an action director.

 

[Sithborg]

At least the franchise isn't dead yet. Just may not be on the big screen.

Netflix Unveils ‘Pacific Rim’, ‘Altered Carbon’ & More In New Lineup Of Anime Originals

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Eh, not really interested in anime

 

[TheVileOne]

Didn't they announce an animated series a long time ago before the sequel came out? I wonder what came of that.

This is something at least. And Craig Kyle and Greg Johnson are great writers and have done some great material together, X-Force, tons of great Marvel animated shows, Thor movies, etc.

 

[Elayis]

Craig Kyle did X-Force with Chris Yost, not Greg Johnson. Johnson an animation guy, he did X-Men: Evolution and those Marvel Lionsgate cartoons.

 

[Sithborg]

Kyle was also a writer and eventually co-producer on X-men Evolution. Which is a nice plus.

I am just slightly concerned about lack of announcement of animation studio.

 

[Slick]

Finally watched this on HBO and honestly I thought this was a lot of fun.

 

[MadVillainy]

Yeah I saw this on HBO a couple of months ago. And honestly if you liked the first one I don't see why you wouldn't at least like this one.
Then again the first one was really meh to me so my opinion is kinda biased. I more or less rate the first one and Uprising the same. I might even like Uprising a little more.

But neither are that good to me

 

[samsnee]

I thought the characters in this one were less likeable and more annoying. No Idris Elba to hold it together. And the effects weren’t very good. All the destruction porn made me wonder why people still bothered to live in cities.

 

[Jordacar]

I'd been trying to figure out what was "wrong" with the sequel that couldn't also be said about the first one. I was listening to a podcast called "School of Movies" (they were covering GDT's whole filmography), and it was that discussion which convinced me that the first film has a great deal of rich thematic depth while the sequel is all surface-level.

Even with that, I think it's still possible to enjoy the sequel more than the first. Just the very fact that it exists feels like something of a triumph given the first film's...well, apparently $411 mil domestic on a $180 mil budget is considered "middling", almost like Firefly getting a movie. I don't even really blame the sequel for being what it is; the first film is so one-and-done that building on that was going to be a chore in any event.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Personally I liked both, but the movie definitely had deeper themes going, GDT is just a better film maker than DeKnight, but I thought the latter did really well with the sequel considering it was his first feature.

 

[Enriquespy]

I'd be up to watch an anime of this.

 

[MadVillainy]

I thought the characters in this one were less likeable and more annoying. No Idris Elba to hold it together. And the effects weren’t very good. All the destruction porn made me wonder why people still bothered to live in cities.

Oh see I feel different. I didn't think Pacific Rim 1 had any interesting characters at all.

Everyone always praises Elba, and I love him in general, but I thought he was nothing special in the first movie. His character was just: "I'm the authoritative figure and I love my daughter" that kind felt like it. I thought his Apocalypse speech was meh.
And then Hunnam and Kikuchi were boooooooooooooooooooooooooooring. Like WonderBread bland. I like Hunnam in SOA but there was like nothing to them. They had no chemistry, romantic or even platonically. All 3 of them felt like they were in the wrong movie.

At least in Uprising, I felt like Boyega and the girl had some personality. I mean they were really cliche. "I'm a cocky jerk because I have a bad relationship with my parents" and "I'm a tough street kid" and it wasn't great but at least it was something. Plus I felt some chemistry between them. And they felt like they fit the tone of Uprising. In the first one, I thought the main 3 and felt like they were in a completely different movie than Charlie Day and his story.

I don't think the first one is bad and Uprising is great. I more or less feel the same about them.

And regarding the "destruction porn"...I don't know that feels like kind of a nitpick. You can say that about so many movie series

I'd be up to watch an anime of this.

They should've done an anime a long time ago. They could've done big things with this franchise but I think they kinda messed it up.

 

[Spider-Fan]

I also found the characters in Pacific Rim to be fairly bland and generic. The storyline as a whole was so basic and nothing special. The robots vs monster action, amazing. I basically skip all the dialogue scenes and go to those sequences. I love GDT, so it disappoints me that I feel that way.