It was a nice touch, I figured it would just be tossed in the background and ignored for the rest of the movie.
Though, to be honest, I was also really hoping for a fastball special from the time it showed up in a trailer.
For me the only real immersion breaker was the jaeger pilots kept talking to each other while drifting, even though upon reflection I understand it's a limitation of the medium that prevents us from being inside their heads in those moments. If none of the protagonists talked to each other during the action scenes it would make for less interesting film, but it would be very cool/eerie if when the pilots communicated between jaegars they all spoke in unison.
On the flip side I think the movie worked so well for me because the characters had relatable arcs and interplay.
Jake and Amara rang super true for me as someone who has lost their own parent. I experienced a bit of Jake's self-destructive/reckless streak, and I also got my shit together and tried to live my life in a way that would make my mom proud. The arc they struggle with is the same one I struggled with minus all the cool shit. Doubly so having been taken in by friends of the family after my mom's passing. Two brothers I'd been friends with my whole life suddenly became my brothers (I was an only child) so Mako and Jake's relationship was some real shit for me too.
I also thought Gottlieb and Geiszler were really well done. I felt bad watching Geiszler blow Gottlieb off. That feeling of watching your friends change as you grow apart while still caring for them was once again too real as I head towards 30.
The only thing that felt like a missed opportunity was Ilya not being more fucked up after Suresh died with how badly Raleigh was messed up by Yancy's death since both deaths happened while drifting.
Maybe I'm being too easy on the film because I can relate to a lot of the character development on screen. For reference The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou in my favorite film because I saw it at a time in my life when everything in there was extremely the realest shit, and similarly my favorite Marvel films are Guardians of the Galaxy because mine and Star-Lord's parent issues are almost exactly the same.
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DeadfallI don't think you realize just how rich he is.In fact, I should put on a monocle.Registered Userregular
For me the only real immersion breaker was the jaeger pilots kept talking to each other while drifting, even though upon reflection I understand it's a limitation of the medium that prevents us from being inside their heads in those moments. If none of the protagonists talked to each other during the action scenes it would make for less interesting film, but it would be very cool/eerie if when the pilots communicated between jaegars they all spoke in unison.
On the flip side I think the movie worked so well for me because the characters had relatable arcs and interplay.
Jake and Amara rang super true for me as someone who has lost their own parent. I experienced a bit of Jake's self-destructive/reckless streak, and I also got my shit together and tried to live my life in a way that would make my mom proud. The arc they struggle with is the same one I struggled with minus all the cool shit. Doubly so having been taken in by friends of the family after my mom's passing. Two brothers I'd been friends with my whole life suddenly became my brothers (I was an only child) so Mako and Jake's relationship was some real shit for me too.
I also thought Gottlieb and Geiszler were really well done. I felt bad watching Geiszler blow Gottlieb off. That feeling of watching your friends change as you grow apart while still caring for them was once again too real as I head towards 30.
The only thing that felt like a missed opportunity was Ilya not being more fucked up after Suresh died with how badly Raleigh was messed up by Yancy's death since both deaths happened while drifting.
Maybe I'm being too easy on the film because I can relate to a lot of the character development on screen. For reference The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou in my favorite film because I saw it at a time in my life when everything in there was extremely the realest shit, and similarly my favorite Marvel films are Guardians of the Galaxy because mine and Star-Lord's parent issues are almost exactly the same.
Are you sure that was the immersion break? Are you sure it wasn't
For me the only real immersion breaker was the jaeger pilots kept talking to each other while drifting, even though upon reflection I understand it's a limitation of the medium that prevents us from being inside their heads in those moments. If none of the protagonists talked to each other during the action scenes it would make for less interesting film, but it would be very cool/eerie if when the pilots communicated between jaegars they all spoke in unison.
On the flip side I think the movie worked so well for me because the characters had relatable arcs and interplay.
Jake and Amara rang super true for me as someone who has lost their own parent. I experienced a bit of Jake's self-destructive/reckless streak, and I also got my shit together and tried to live my life in a way that would make my mom proud. The arc they struggle with is the same one I struggled with minus all the cool shit. Doubly so having been taken in by friends of the family after my mom's passing. Two brothers I'd been friends with my whole life suddenly became my brothers (I was an only child) so Mako and Jake's relationship was some real shit for me too.
I also thought Gottlieb and Geiszler were really well done. I felt bad watching Geiszler blow Gottlieb off. That feeling of watching your friends change as you grow apart while still caring for them was once again too real as I head towards 30.
The only thing that felt like a missed opportunity was Ilya not being more fucked up after Suresh died with how badly Raleigh was messed up by Yancy's death since both deaths happened while drifting.
Maybe I'm being too easy on the film because I can relate to a lot of the character development on screen. For reference The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou in my favorite film because I saw it at a time in my life when everything in there was extremely the realest shit, and similarly my favorite Marvel films are Guardians of the Galaxy because mine and Star-Lord's parent issues are almost exactly the same.
Are you sure that was the immersion break? Are you sure it wasn't
the trollolloll guy?
Lots of people have weird rituals to amp themselves up, whether it's for a fight, a big game or just an important meeting.
I can't imagine that would change just because your fight happens to include giant robots punching giant monsters.
Giggles_FunsworthBlight on DiscourseBay Area SprawlRegistered Userregular
I loved the first one so much I saw it in IMAX five times. I was hype as all get out and the only reason I didn't see it opening night was I've been extremely busy the past few days. I had seen the Rotten Tomatoes score and thought I'd tempered my expectations appropriately but I guess not. I didn't think it was very good. Honestly it's hot garbage. The fights felt like something that belonged on a Saturday morning cartoon and not really in a good way. Fridging a character was awful, and the dialogue was cringingly bad and not in the charming way of the first one. Way too much "REMEMBER THAT THING THAT HAPPENED IN THE LAST MOVIE?" "YEAH, PACIFIC RIM WAS A LOT OF FUN AND HIGHLY REGARDED!" lines instead of more organic dialogue. There's also a lot of ideas and things I liked, and I think I still enjoyed it I think? But it felt like a soulless cash grab.
For me the only real immersion breaker was the jaeger pilots kept talking to each other while drifting, even though upon reflection I understand it's a limitation of the medium that prevents us from being inside their heads in those moments. If none of the protagonists talked to each other during the action scenes it would make for less interesting film, but it would be very cool/eerie if when the pilots communicated between jaegars they all spoke in unison.
On the flip side I think the movie worked so well for me because the characters had relatable arcs and interplay.
Jake and Amara rang super true for me as someone who has lost their own parent. I experienced a bit of Jake's self-destructive/reckless streak, and I also got my shit together and tried to live my life in a way that would make my mom proud. The arc they struggle with is the same one I struggled with minus all the cool shit. Doubly so having been taken in by friends of the family after my mom's passing. Two brothers I'd been friends with my whole life suddenly became my brothers (I was an only child) so Mako and Jake's relationship was some real shit for me too.
I also thought Gottlieb and Geiszler were really well done. I felt bad watching Geiszler blow Gottlieb off. That feeling of watching your friends change as you grow apart while still caring for them was once again too real as I head towards 30.
The only thing that felt like a missed opportunity was Ilya not being more fucked up after Suresh died with how badly Raleigh was messed up by Yancy's death since both deaths happened while drifting.
Maybe I'm being too easy on the film because I can relate to a lot of the character development on screen. For reference The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou in my favorite film because I saw it at a time in my life when everything in there was extremely the realest shit, and similarly my favorite Marvel films are Guardians of the Galaxy because mine and Star-Lord's parent issues are almost exactly the same.
Are you sure that was the immersion break? Are you sure it wasn't
the trollolloll guy?
Lots of people have weird rituals to amp themselves up, whether it's for a fight, a big game or just an important meeting.
I can't imagine that would change just because your fight happens to include giant robots punching giant monsters.
Hokay, I just got back from the movie so now for the only review for Pacific Rim: Uprising that matters: Mine! Because I'm a slobbering fanboy with a disturbingly large collection of Pacific Rim merch adorning my computer room so you can absolutely trust me to give an unbiased opinion about this movie. *fingerguns and a wink*
First off, I need to get some shit off my chest here: Mako Mori got absolutely shit on by this movie. This is easily the biggest problem the movie had and it didn't even serve any sort of plot element. To say she got fridged would imply her death had a point. It would suggest that a character or the greater plot would be impacted by her death in some sort of meaningful way. No, Mako Mori got flicked out the window with all the care you'd give to a discarded cigarette butt. There was literally no reason for her character to die other than to fuck with the audience because it's not like the movie gave a shit about her death in any way. "Oh, someone so important to my life that I regard her as a sister just died? Oh well, I got other things to do! Lah dee dah." She could have done so many other cool things like suit up at the end to whoop some ass in a Jaeger with Jake or been the voice of experience around the base helping to coordinate things. But nah, movie's done with her so into the trash she goes. Just an absolute betrayal in every way possible.
And all that is a shame because the rest of the movie is basically a full season's worth of modern mecha anime condensed into an otherwise alright movie. It definitely lacks the heart of Pacific Rim 1, there's no question about it but Pacific Rim was del Toro's passion project. There's just no replicating that level of unabashed love being poured into a movie without having the man himself back at the helm but at least Pacific Rim: Uprising still understands what it is and celebrates it pretty openly instead of being ashamed of its influences. Overly brilliant young super engineer girl that designs crazy stuff? Check. A crew of teenage new recruits with differences rallying to save the world? Yup, check. A mysterious rogue unit fighting the Big God Damn Hero Mech and then vanishing leaving everyone to go BWUUHHH!?!?? Yup! A human betrays everyone due to slow burn alien mindfuckery? Oh yeah, super check. Those weird moments where an anime will stop with the normal regular animation for an exaggerated reaction or comment? In a way, yeah! Or at least I could feel that's what they were going for (Boyega is charismatic as fuck y'all).
If anything, the fact that it is only two hours is a problem because nothing is really given the room you'd get in an actual anime series to allow those things to build up and breath. In comparison, Pacific Rim 1 didn't really have that problem. It was careful about trying to shove too much in so while every second of that movie is built to be an homage to the things del Toro loved as a child, it never feels overstuffed. Pacific Rim Uprising is almost too eager to wear its influences on its sleeve, practically shouting HELLO FELLOW KIDS, WE LOVE THE ANIMES TOO! So while the ridiculousness of the movie is certainly all traceable back to the source genre it's almost too silly. If Pacific Rim 1 is a functioning adult that has a tasteful collection of toys from the shows they love in a dedicated nerd room but has basic enough social skills to not annoy everyone with their hobby all the time, then Pacific Rim: Uprising is that weeb with dyed hair that has mildly creepy anime school girl figures from kinda shit animes in the living room and won't shut up about which Gundam show is their favorite and why the others suck. The movie has some pacing issues is what I'm getting at.
Seeing the main event robot ass kickery on screen went better than I thought it would after the trailers. The trailers on the small screen made things seem too speedy but thankfully the big screen did resolve that issue for me. Things did still felt weighty, but the Jaegers being more agile will definitely throw people off which is understandable. Part of Pacific Rim 1's charm is that the Jaegers were big, kinda clunky, engines of ass whuppery. Pacific Rim Uprising's way more agile Jaegers make total sense in context, are still fun to watch, and feature some really badass designs but if you're hoping for more of Pacific Rim 1's style then you're gonna leave disappointed. Personally, I had a good time watching the fights and loved the designs of both the Jaegers and the Kaiju (moar figures for the collection for meeeeeee!!!!). I do wish we got to spend more time with each Kaiju and see just what all it could do, but as mentioned before, the movie is a bit overstuffed so eh. I got to see Gipsy Avenger put its fist straight through another Jaeger so I'm pretty satisfied on this front. I am kinda curious wtf was the point of Obsidian Fury's missiles though. They didn't seem to do dickall to anything that wasn't a building.
So yeah, is the movie good as a movie? Nah. Is the movie anime as fuck and revels in that fact? Yup! Was this movie needed at all? NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPEEEEE! Should you see it? Eh? It's an alright popcorn flick and I definitely enjoyed most of it for what it is, but it's not the movie Pacific Rim is. Not even close. Pacific Rim is a movie I love so much that someone not liking it is like them saying they voted for Trump. When I say I love Pacific Rim I don't mean it in the way someone says they love bacon or their morning cup of coffee. No. I love Pacific Rim. I own multiple copies of it. I have a travel copy on my work laptop. I own all of NECA's figures for it. I've seen it countless times. Pacific Rim Uprising is just kinda there and serviceable but honestly, that's all I was expecting from it. There was just no way it would hit the lofty heights of the original and wisely they didn't even try to. They just made a silly robots punching things, anime as fuck movie and I'm pretty ok with that.
But seriously though, fuck all of them for what they did to Mako Mori.
EDIT: Holy shit I think I just had a revelation y'all.
The extra damage to Tokyo and the death of Mako Mori may be directly related to the fact that this movie was basically funded by and made for Chinese audiences. I fully admit this is some tin foil hat shit but still, you gotta wonder.
TOGSolid on
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MichaelLCIn what furnace was thy brain?ChicagoRegistered Userregular
edited March 2018
On your last point, considering what studios have done to pander to the smaller American market, I wouldn't be surprised.
Remember that AMC s owned by a Chinese company as well. I think will see a lot more of stuff like this and that awful Great Wall of China monster movie coming out.
On your last point, considering what studios have done to pander to the smaller American market, I wouldn't be surprised.
Remember that AMC s owned by a Chinese company as well. I think will see a lot more of stuff like this and that awful Great Wall of China monster movie coming out.
It's certainly a theory I hadn't thought of, which has merit. If so, that is depressing
because Mako is awesome
but it would fit since
Tian Jing has a big role and isn't killed. Though if this is true does this also mean the the Chinese market is getting more positive for black leads?
On your last point, considering what studios have done to pander to the smaller American market, I wouldn't be surprised.
Remember that AMC s owned by a Chinese company as well. I think will see a lot more of stuff like this and that awful Great Wall of China monster movie coming out.
It's certainly a theory I hadn't thought of, which has merit. If so, that is depressing
because Mako is awesome
but it would fit since
Tian Jing has a big role and isn't killed. Though if this is true does this also mean the the Chinese market is getting more positive for black leads?
Btw, I liked The Great Wall.
There's a lot of other parts in the movie that you could read as being aimed at the Chinese audience.
For example, the big Chinese company just wants to help everyone, until it's purpose is subverted by a foreigner who usurps control of the company for his own purposes.
But the company isn't subverted by subverting the Chinese employees but by the automation that's in place.
Tian Jing coming back at the end, more or less out of nowhere, just in time to save the day.
The Kaiju all heading for Mt. Fuji, something of a very well known Japanese landmark, with the intentions of using it to destroy the planet.
I mean, I might be reading too much into it. I don't know, in depth analysis has never been my strong suit.
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Inquisitor772 x Penny Arcade Fight Club ChampionA fixed point in space and timeRegistered Userregular
I'm Chinese-American and am happy to validate your feelings regarding the pandering.
And now to take a break from the movie discussion for me to indulge my PR figure collecting obsession. I'm linking an Imgur album cause I don't wanna blow the thread up.
The first wave of figures to go out are the basic budget line and while they feel more toy like than NECA's old Pacific Rim figures the joints are just soooo much better. I could never pose the NECA figures like this without probably breaking something. The star of today's haul, though, is definitely the Soul of Chogokin Gipsy Danger. He's a die cast metal absolute tank of a model who has a ton of different accessories and while not super pose-able, he has so many small details (moving leg pistons!) that it makes up for the limited range of motion. This thing is just gorgeous and easily the centerpiece of my collection now. Coming up soon are the model kits for all the Jaegers and the Select Series of figures which are much more detailed. I may have been hard on the movie but my hype for the designs is still super real. Bracer Phoenix is basically tied with Cherno for my favorite Jaeger now
And now to take a break from the movie discussion to remember the real reason for the season: THE FUCKING TOYS YO! I'm linking an Imgur album cause I don't wanna blow the thread up.
The first wave of figures to go out are the basic budget line and while they feel more toy like than NECA's old Pacific Rim figures the joints are just soooo much better. I could never pose the NECA figures like this without probably breaking something. The star of today's haul, though, is definitely the Soul of Chogokin Gipsy Danger. He's a die cast metal absolute tank of a model who has a ton of different accessories and while not super pose-able, he has so many small details (moving leg pistons!) that it makes up for the limited range of motion. This thing is just gorgeous and easily the centerpiece of my collection now. Coming up soon are the model kits for all the Jaegers and the Select Series of figures which are much more detailed. I may have been hard on the movie but my hype for the designs is still super real. Bracer Phoenix is basically tied with Cherno for my favorite Jaeger now
I'm Chinese-American and am happy to validate your feelings regarding the pandering.
In all seriousness, how do you feel about some of the things mentioned in the thread?
I'd agree with many of them. It was very clearly pandering. Two things in particular stood out to me as unnecessary or perhaps even detrimental to the story:
The whole "Chinese corporation shows up with a fleet of helicopters to save the day" thing.
CEO Shao being shoehorned into the final act.
Also, Marshal Quan would've been fine on his own. In fact, with a little bit of setup he could've easily taken the place of CEO Shao. But having both of them in the movie just felt like too much given Mako Mori was basically fridged, and all of the characters - including the main ones - felt underdeveloped throughout.
I'm all for representation, but this movie made its already-weak plot and characterization even weaker with some of these decisions, so it's hard for me to give them the benefit of the doubt. Mori should've lived and taken Quan's place. Amara Namani could've been Japanese-American. CEO Shao never should have been in the final climax battle at all. (She could've had her own subplot entirely that linked up with the final act, and that would've made for a better movie.) Marshal Quan, if he was going to be a character, should have had more to do than just bark orders and die.
It sounds like I'm nitpicking the movie, and in a way I am. Like, overall I thought it was a pretty average action movie. But if you're going to ask me if I thought there was pandering, then I think this kind of analysis is the only way for me to show my work.
On your last point, considering what studios have done to pander to the smaller American market, I wouldn't be surprised.
Remember that AMC s owned by a Chinese company as well. I think will see a lot more of stuff like this and that awful Great Wall of China monster movie coming out.
It's certainly a theory I hadn't thought of, which has merit. If so, that is depressing
because Mako is awesome
but it would fit since
Tian Jing has a big role and isn't killed. Though if this is true does this also mean the the Chinese market is getting more positive for black leads?
Btw, I liked The Great Wall.
There's a lot of other parts in the movie that you could read as being aimed at the Chinese audience.
For example, the big Chinese company just wants to help everyone, until it's purpose is subverted by a foreigner who usurps control of the company for his own purposes.
But the company isn't subverted by subverting the Chinese employees but by the automation that's in place.
Tian Jing coming back at the end, more or less out of nowhere, just in time to save the day.
The Kaiju all heading for Mt. Fuji, something of a very well known Japanese landmark, with the intentions of using it to destroy the planet.
I mean, I might be reading too much into it. I don't know, in depth analysis has never been my strong suit.
I don't know whether it's true or not, but I will say your theory isn't unbelievable. Isn't the main reason we got a sequel was due to China's ticket sales in the first place? That would certainly motivate the movie studio to package the sequel to those expectations since it'd be a safe bet.
So I'm guessing this tanked at the box office? Seems to have been pulled from all cinemas I can find around me here (UK) after two weeks. The one place I can find showing it on Friday has all of two seats currently booked.
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daveNYCWhy universe hate Waspinator?Registered Userregular
So I'm guessing this tanked at the box office? Seems to have been pulled from all cinemas I can find around me here (UK) after two weeks. The one place I can find showing it on Friday has all of two seats currently booked.
Kinda? It pulled in $90M in China, but all of $48M in the US. In total it's looking at $233M on a $150M budget. The first one pulled in $411M ($101M domestic) on a $190M budget. Its China numbers were $110M.
I wouldn't go so far as to say it tanked, but I'm pretty sure the studio is less than happy about the results so far.
Shut up, Mr. Burton! You were not brought upon this world to get it!
I am a huge fan of the first one, but nothing about this movie made me really excited to go see it. So I am not surprised that the box office was underwhelming.
So I'm guessing this tanked at the box office? Seems to have been pulled from all cinemas I can find around me here (UK) after two weeks. The one place I can find showing it on Friday has all of two seats currently booked.
Kinda? It pulled in $90M in China, but all of $48M in the US. In total it's looking at $233M on a $150M budget. The first one pulled in $411M ($101M domestic) on a $190M budget. Its China numbers were $110M.
I wouldn't go so far as to say it tanked, but I'm pretty sure the studio is less than happy about the results so far.
The trailers managed to wholly lose my interest despite being another Pacific Rim film. The only thing the studio should be unhappy with is itself, for blowing something so easy to make money with by just doing a decent job of it.
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daveNYCWhy universe hate Waspinator?Registered Userregular
So I'm guessing this tanked at the box office? Seems to have been pulled from all cinemas I can find around me here (UK) after two weeks. The one place I can find showing it on Friday has all of two seats currently booked.
Kinda? It pulled in $90M in China, but all of $48M in the US. In total it's looking at $233M on a $150M budget. The first one pulled in $411M ($101M domestic) on a $190M budget. Its China numbers were $110M.
I wouldn't go so far as to say it tanked, but I'm pretty sure the studio is less than happy about the results so far.
The trailers managed to wholly lose my interest despite being another Pacific Rim film. The only thing the studio should be unhappy with is itself, for blowing something so easy to make money with by just doing a decent job of it.
I wouldn't say it was that easy to make money on this. The original wasn't exactly blowing away box office records. I agree though that the trailers weren't that great, they were missing the gravitas (relatively speaking, for a robot vs. monster movie) of the original.
Shut up, Mr. Burton! You were not brought upon this world to get it!
Pacific Rim. Returning to the epic battle of Kaiju and Jeagers, this original anime series will expand upon the story of the first two live action movies and follow two siblings — an idealistic teenage boy and his naïve younger sister — who are forced to pilot an abandoned Jaeger across a hostile landscape in a desperate attempt to find their missing parents. Co-showrunners: Craig Kyle (Thor: Ragnarok) and Greg Johnson (X-Men: Evolution). Production Company: Legendary Entertainment (Kong: Skull Island; Pokemon: Detective Pikachu).
Honestly, so long as it has a halfway competent production staff who understand why the first film rocked, I'll put the chips down on it being better that Uprising
Given the animated exclusives Netflix has done, there's a fair chance of this being decent and moderate chance of it actually being really good.
The fact that it's going to be the ultra-worn-out anime "teen pilot" trope crap already annoys me, though.
"Teen pilot searching for his missing parents". Tropetastic!
I can only hope that the first episode has them accidentally crush their parents so they can spend the rest of the season fighting monsters.
I wonder if this is it. If this is the thing that might force me to get a Netflix subscription get a new fake email account for another free month trial.
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zepherinRussian warship, go fuck yourselfRegistered Userregular
Given the animated exclusives Netflix has done, there's a fair chance of this being decent and moderate chance of it actually being really good.
The fact that it's going to be the ultra-worn-out anime "teen pilot" trope crap already annoys me, though.
But he is the magically gifted pilot, who with 2 years of secret training is able to consistently defeat other pilots with a decade of experience in 3 dimensional air to air combat.
oh if only i had a magical monkey paw to wish the studio that did Big Guy and Rusty back from the dead and make a Pacific Rim series with... https://youtu.be/Rpf_fLW468U
Am I missing a connection between Warframe loot on Twitch and Pacific Rim?
I honestly don't know, I never picked up Warframe.
No, I just got confused as to what happened due to losing track of what thread I was in, haha. I thought Forar meant that I should have posted the Pac Rim announcement in the Netflix thread because I'm a derpy doo.
Posts
Though, to be honest, I was also really hoping for a fastball special from the time it showed up in a trailer.
On the flip side I think the movie worked so well for me because the characters had relatable arcs and interplay.
I also thought Gottlieb and Geiszler were really well done. I felt bad watching Geiszler blow Gottlieb off. That feeling of watching your friends change as you grow apart while still caring for them was once again too real as I head towards 30.
The only thing that felt like a missed opportunity was Ilya not being more fucked up after Suresh died with how badly Raleigh was messed up by Yancy's death since both deaths happened while drifting.
Maybe I'm being too easy on the film because I can relate to a lot of the character development on screen. For reference The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou in my favorite film because I saw it at a time in my life when everything in there was extremely the realest shit, and similarly my favorite Marvel films are Guardians of the Galaxy because mine and Star-Lord's parent issues are almost exactly the same.
Are you sure that was the immersion break? Are you sure it wasn't
xbl - HowYouGetAnts
steam - WeAreAllGeth
I can't imagine that would change just because your fight happens to include giant robots punching giant monsters.
And of all the ways they could have chosen to break the tension, that's far from the worst option available.
Internal consistency isn't a particularly good metric for script quality. You can make anything internally consistent.
And all that is a shame because the rest of the movie is basically a full season's worth of modern mecha anime condensed into an otherwise alright movie. It definitely lacks the heart of Pacific Rim 1, there's no question about it but Pacific Rim was del Toro's passion project. There's just no replicating that level of unabashed love being poured into a movie without having the man himself back at the helm but at least Pacific Rim: Uprising still understands what it is and celebrates it pretty openly instead of being ashamed of its influences. Overly brilliant young super engineer girl that designs crazy stuff? Check. A crew of teenage new recruits with differences rallying to save the world? Yup, check. A mysterious rogue unit fighting the Big God Damn Hero Mech and then vanishing leaving everyone to go BWUUHHH!?!?? Yup! A human betrays everyone due to slow burn alien mindfuckery? Oh yeah, super check. Those weird moments where an anime will stop with the normal regular animation for an exaggerated reaction or comment? In a way, yeah! Or at least I could feel that's what they were going for (Boyega is charismatic as fuck y'all).
If anything, the fact that it is only two hours is a problem because nothing is really given the room you'd get in an actual anime series to allow those things to build up and breath. In comparison, Pacific Rim 1 didn't really have that problem. It was careful about trying to shove too much in so while every second of that movie is built to be an homage to the things del Toro loved as a child, it never feels overstuffed. Pacific Rim Uprising is almost too eager to wear its influences on its sleeve, practically shouting HELLO FELLOW KIDS, WE LOVE THE ANIMES TOO! So while the ridiculousness of the movie is certainly all traceable back to the source genre it's almost too silly. If Pacific Rim 1 is a functioning adult that has a tasteful collection of toys from the shows they love in a dedicated nerd room but has basic enough social skills to not annoy everyone with their hobby all the time, then Pacific Rim: Uprising is that weeb with dyed hair that has mildly creepy anime school girl figures from kinda shit animes in the living room and won't shut up about which Gundam show is their favorite and why the others suck. The movie has some pacing issues is what I'm getting at.
Seeing the main event robot ass kickery on screen went better than I thought it would after the trailers. The trailers on the small screen made things seem too speedy but thankfully the big screen did resolve that issue for me. Things did still felt weighty, but the Jaegers being more agile will definitely throw people off which is understandable. Part of Pacific Rim 1's charm is that the Jaegers were big, kinda clunky, engines of ass whuppery. Pacific Rim Uprising's way more agile Jaegers make total sense in context, are still fun to watch, and feature some really badass designs but if you're hoping for more of Pacific Rim 1's style then you're gonna leave disappointed. Personally, I had a good time watching the fights and loved the designs of both the Jaegers and the Kaiju (moar figures for the collection for meeeeeee!!!!). I do wish we got to spend more time with each Kaiju and see just what all it could do, but as mentioned before, the movie is a bit overstuffed so eh. I got to see Gipsy Avenger put its fist straight through another Jaeger so I'm pretty satisfied on this front. I am kinda curious wtf was the point of Obsidian Fury's missiles though. They didn't seem to do dickall to anything that wasn't a building.
So yeah, is the movie good as a movie? Nah. Is the movie anime as fuck and revels in that fact? Yup! Was this movie needed at all? NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPEEEEE! Should you see it? Eh? It's an alright popcorn flick and I definitely enjoyed most of it for what it is, but it's not the movie Pacific Rim is. Not even close. Pacific Rim is a movie I love so much that someone not liking it is like them saying they voted for Trump. When I say I love Pacific Rim I don't mean it in the way someone says they love bacon or their morning cup of coffee. No. I love Pacific Rim. I own multiple copies of it. I have a travel copy on my work laptop. I own all of NECA's figures for it. I've seen it countless times. Pacific Rim Uprising is just kinda there and serviceable but honestly, that's all I was expecting from it. There was just no way it would hit the lofty heights of the original and wisely they didn't even try to. They just made a silly robots punching things, anime as fuck movie and I'm pretty ok with that.
But seriously though, fuck all of them for what they did to Mako Mori.
EDIT: Holy shit I think I just had a revelation y'all.
The extra damage to Tokyo and the death of Mako Mori may be directly related to the fact that this movie was basically funded by and made for Chinese audiences. I fully admit this is some tin foil hat shit but still, you gotta wonder.
Remember that AMC s owned by a Chinese company as well. I think will see a lot more of stuff like this and that awful Great Wall of China monster movie coming out.
It's certainly a theory I hadn't thought of, which has merit. If so, that is depressing
There's a lot of other parts in the movie that you could read as being aimed at the Chinese audience.
But the company isn't subverted by subverting the Chinese employees but by the automation that's in place.
Tian Jing coming back at the end, more or less out of nowhere, just in time to save the day.
The Kaiju all heading for Mt. Fuji, something of a very well known Japanese landmark, with the intentions of using it to destroy the planet.
https://imgur.com/a/1ftwl
The first wave of figures to go out are the basic budget line and while they feel more toy like than NECA's old Pacific Rim figures the joints are just soooo much better. I could never pose the NECA figures like this without probably breaking something. The star of today's haul, though, is definitely the Soul of Chogokin Gipsy Danger. He's a die cast metal absolute tank of a model who has a ton of different accessories and while not super pose-able, he has so many small details (moving leg pistons!) that it makes up for the limited range of motion. This thing is just gorgeous and easily the centerpiece of my collection now. Coming up soon are the model kits for all the Jaegers and the Select Series of figures which are much more detailed. I may have been hard on the movie but my hype for the designs is still super real. Bracer Phoenix is basically tied with Cherno for my favorite Jaeger now
In all seriousness, how do you feel about some of the things mentioned in the thread?
I'd agree with many of them. It was very clearly pandering. Two things in particular stood out to me as unnecessary or perhaps even detrimental to the story:
Also, Marshal Quan would've been fine on his own. In fact, with a little bit of setup he could've easily taken the place of CEO Shao. But having both of them in the movie just felt like too much given Mako Mori was basically fridged, and all of the characters - including the main ones - felt underdeveloped throughout.
I'm all for representation, but this movie made its already-weak plot and characterization even weaker with some of these decisions, so it's hard for me to give them the benefit of the doubt. Mori should've lived and taken Quan's place. Amara Namani could've been Japanese-American. CEO Shao never should have been in the final climax battle at all. (She could've had her own subplot entirely that linked up with the final act, and that would've made for a better movie.) Marshal Quan, if he was going to be a character, should have had more to do than just bark orders and die.
It sounds like I'm nitpicking the movie, and in a way I am. Like, overall I thought it was a pretty average action movie. But if you're going to ask me if I thought there was pandering, then I think this kind of analysis is the only way for me to show my work.
I don't know whether it's true or not, but I will say your theory isn't unbelievable. Isn't the main reason we got a sequel was due to China's ticket sales in the first place? That would certainly motivate the movie studio to package the sequel to those expectations since it'd be a safe bet.
Kinda? It pulled in $90M in China, but all of $48M in the US. In total it's looking at $233M on a $150M budget. The first one pulled in $411M ($101M domestic) on a $190M budget. Its China numbers were $110M.
I wouldn't go so far as to say it tanked, but I'm pretty sure the studio is less than happy about the results so far.
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
The trailers managed to wholly lose my interest despite being another Pacific Rim film. The only thing the studio should be unhappy with is itself, for blowing something so easy to make money with by just doing a decent job of it.
I wouldn't say it was that easy to make money on this. The original wasn't exactly blowing away box office records. I agree though that the trailers weren't that great, they were missing the gravitas (relatively speaking, for a robot vs. monster movie) of the original.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/pacific-rim-altered-carbon-anime-projects-netflixs-new-slate-asian-originals-1159238?utm_source=twitter
The fact that it's going to be the ultra-worn-out anime "teen pilot" trope crap already annoys me, though.
"Teen pilot searching for his missing parents". Tropetastic!
I can only hope that the first episode has them accidentally crush their parents so they can spend the rest of the season fighting monsters.
I wonder if this is it. If this is the thing that might force me to get a Netflix subscription get a new fake email account for another free month trial.
Am I missing a connection between Warframe loot on Twitch and Pacific Rim?
I honestly don't know, I never picked up Warframe.
No, I just got confused as to what happened due to losing track of what thread I was in, haha. I thought Forar meant that I should have posted the Pac Rim announcement in the Netflix thread because I'm a derpy doo.
Only if she's adopted.