Pacific Rim Uprising

[Kanedas Bike]

Saw it earlier today, as someone already mentioned this one had a bit of heart to it. Taken as a whole, the movie was also much better acted than the original with Idris Elba being the lone exception from Pacific Rim.

For those worried about acting from Scott Eastwood (I certainly was based on his other work) he actually did a good job and his was actually a likable character.

For those that may not like Boyega after his turn in SW you may be surprised, his character was also likable and well acted. I was reminded of his turn in Attack the Block. 

All in all I was pleasantly surprised, I didn't have low expectations but they weren't sky high either. The action was good, the Jaegars behaved in the same way from a mechanical standpoint, albeit they were all a bit faster than those in the first Pacific Rim. Story was good, most of the characters were enjoyable, CG was solid, the "twist" was interesting and the movie had heart.

I will say this, if you've already got your mind set based on your perception of the trailers, the "everything sucks" YouTube reviewers or the few incredibly persistent negative posters on the boards then you probably won't enjoy it - BUT - if you are the type to keep an open mind, or wanted to see this from jump then go and check it out at the theater. I think you'll actually have fun. I did.

-b.

 

[treatment]

On 3/24/2018 at 2:31 AM, JB0 said:

That's good. The trailer CG is kind of... not good?

 

 

I'm still gonna wait until this is at the dollar movies, or "on Netflix", but there's actually a chance I'll watch it. 

I don't go to the movies very often anyways, and full price movie tickets are even rarer. There's only one movie I've ever watched twice at full-price, but Pacific Rim was worth it. This doesn't look like it is.

Just go and watch it in during matinee schedule.

 

 

 

 

[glane21]

I was pleasantly surprised by it. Definitely much more anime-ish than the first.  Clear influence from Evangelion on the white drones and what happens with them.  And the look of the big baddie and it’s objective at the end is straight out of Shin Getter Robo Armageddon.

[kajnrig]

65 million in China:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/pacific-rim-2-strong-65m-china-opening-1097192

Plus merchandising, it MUST be a success already.

[SuperHobo]

1 hour ago, glane21 said:

I was pleasantly surprised by it. Definitely much more anime-ish than the first.  Clear influence from Evangelion on the white drones and what happens with them.  And the look of the big baddie and it’s objective at the end is straight out of Shin Getter Robo Armageddon.

Now that you mention it, the latter 1/3 of the movie did vaguely remind me of Dr. Saotome's plan from Shin Getter Robo.  Hot damn, good catch. 

[sh9000]

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=pacificrim2.htm

[Tking22]

I saw it last night and absolutely loved it, just as much as the first honestly. The new younger cast gets a bit grating at times, but it's not so bad. Performances were fine, Boyega was fine, Eastwood was fine, nothing stood out as either terrible or terrific, it was all serviceable, like the first. I LOVED the fight scenes, they weren't power rangers, they weren't super robot, they were just as heavy and weighted as the first. Designs were hit and miss, I really liked the new Kaiju designs but wasn't totally hot on every new Jaeger design, Gypsy Avenger was badass. I'll definitely be seeing it again sometime soon, I gotta see Ready Player One sometime soon too. Definite sequel bate, I'm hoping that like the first, this one will be profitable enough to continue the franchise, I'd love for a trilogy.

 

19 hours ago, Dynaman said:

It made under 30 million opening weekend on a 150 million budget.  I expect it won't be in theaters long and that there will not be a third one.

As already mentioned by several others though, the first didn't make much in the US either, in fact if I remember right, Adam Sandler's offensively stupid deer piss moron bait movie Grown Ups 2 beat out the first film in it's opening weekend, and had a higher overall domestic return. China is, like the first film, what will make or break this movie.

 

 

[Knight26]

Saw the movie this weekend, with my boys, we enjoyed the heck out of it.  It was not deep, but I do find it better then the first, in most ways, and a heck of a lot of fun.  The writing was pretty tight, have to rewatch to be sure, the mecha designs were good (for the most part), the red herrings were well done, as were how they handled those reveals.  And for once, the trailer didn't ruin the whole movie. Even the actors did well, and my kids loved seeing Ravi from some Disney channel show they like on the big screen.  The young actors were not grating, some cringy bits, and Boyega did a great job with some good jokes in there as well.

Overall, a super fun movie, and a good example of how to make giant mecha anime work on the big screen.

[peter]

On 3/24/2018 at 1:54 AM, kajnrig said:

Related question: Were the subtitles accurate? I always like seeing my language with English subtitles and knowing how accurate/inaccurate they're being.

 

The subs were accurate enough, somethings just can't be translated directly, but these got the point across and weren't completely off.

 

That being said, sometimes even Chinese people need subtitles when it comes to people from Beijing.  

[Focslain]

Figured since I saw this one I throw my few cents in.

Honestly it was enjoyable, a nice popcorn flick and probably one of the better anime adaptions to hit cinemas. The villian swap was a neat touch. Figured the Jeugar on Jeugar fights in the trailer was about rogue elements, just not sure where from.

Also the ending gave a set up for more but least hope they follow through unlike other series *cough*knights of sidonia*cough*.

[peter]

31 minutes ago, Focslain said:

Figured since I saw this one I throw my few cents in.

Honestly it was enjoyable, a nice popcorn flick and probably one of the better anime adaptions to hit cinemas. The villian swap was a neat touch. Figured the Jeugar on Jeugar fights in the trailer was about rogue elements, just not sure where from.

Also the ending gave a set up for more but least hope they follow through unlike other series *cough*knights of sidonia*cough*.

Pac Rim was an anime??  I had no idea, will have to look for it after work.

[renegadeleader1]

Went to see it today to make up my own mind about and I have to say it was good. Damn good! I liked this one a hell of a lot more than the first one. The trailers didn't do this movie justice, but they at least did succeed in not giving away the plot in them which is kind of surprising.

 

It also really felt like the people that made this really wanted to make it a love letter to mecha anime more so than the first one did.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

In the theatre now with a few buds getting hyped to see some mecha on monster action....aaand we're the only ones here - awesome!

[JB0]

11 hours ago, peter said:

Pac Rim was an anime??  I had no idea, will have to look for it after work.

Anime ja nai!

Anime ja nai!

Hontou no koto sa.

[CoryHolmes]

Against my better judgement, I went to see this last night.  As expected it was:  Dumb, stupid, moronic...

 

SO MUCH FUN!!!

 

I can't believe how much fun I had watching this movie!  John Boyega really stole the show, since every single scene he's in he looks like he's having fun and enjoying himself.  That was a great contrast to Reily- Rallaeighheha- uh, whatshisname from the first movie.  The kids were annoying, but they're kids and that's to be expected.  The Jaeger fights were fun, the Kaiju were also fun.  The editing was brisk, the movie just flew by with no spots that dragged.  The dialog can be cringeworthy at times, but what anime isn't?

 

I think my favourite part is at the start of the film when the kid's running around and BOOM! an ankle appears out of nowhere and dwarfs her.  Just shows the sense of scale that the Jaegers are.

 

Overall, I enjoyed this far more than The Last Jedi.

[ArchieNov]

I also came into this movie expecting to be disappointed (especially since I loved the first one so much), but was very pleasantly surprised with it.

I can’t really say which of the two is better, but I think 1 had the better characters while 2 had the better action.

I don’t get why people hate on the focus on China in the movie. It makes perfect sense to me considering what China is capable of, especially when it comes to manufacturing. Also, I love Shao. She is my favorite new character.

I thought I would hate the little girl (Amara), but I also like her a lot. I normally don’t like “young teen” characters but she didn’t act too childish and didn’t do most of the dumb cliches you’d expect out of children/young teen characters.

Reviewers didn’t like what happened to Charlie Day’s character, but I found it okay. In my opinion, it was actually something that I could imagine him doing while being in character. Major contrast to Luke in TLJ, who acted totally out of character.

All in all, I had lots of fun. Would definitely like to watch it again and will buy the blu-ray once it’s out.

[CoryHolmes]

I'm just the opposite, I think 1 had the better action sequences while 2 had the better characters. 

Agreed with Amara, though.  I didn't hate her nearly as much as I thought I would upon introduction.

[Big s]

Just saw it and I think part one had boring main character stuff and great side character stuff. Two has far better main character stuff and weak side character elements. The action got a bit silly in the first film and the second goes full robot jox. The opening scenes of this new film gave me a feeling of zz gundam but live action. The pilot outfits look more halo clunky and less anime sleek. I feel like the film was really good up until the halfway point but it’s still enjoyable enough with it’s stupidity. This film won’t bring in any new fans and may be too over the top for some old fans but I don’t feel like I wasted my time watching this.

[ArchieNov]

I wish someone could explain to me what exactly is “stupid” about the film, or why you would need to “turn your brain off” to enjoy it. I didn’t really notice any gigantic glaring plot holes or silly unreasonable antics in the movie. Granted it’s not perfect, but it’s definitely not something that looks like no thought was put to the story.

I watched Ready Player One on the same night and I think that film had a lot more moments where I was rolling my eyes at something dumb. But I don’t hear anyone say it was a dumb movie.

Edited April 1, 2018 by ArchieNov

[M'Kyuun]

Watched it tonight; gotta agree with its being a fun movie. The plot was decent, the kids were ok, and there were a number of 'Evangelion' moments in there that my wife and I noticed (and liked). Evangelion is especially fresh to me, as just yesterday I started watching the original with a friend who's never seen it before.

Anyway, they raised the level of agility in the Jaegers compared to the first movie, which makes the action more dynamic. Having younger pilots works well to that end, and overall, it made it a fun movie to watch. They also built off of many of the established ideas from the first without lingering or over-explaining them, keeping the momentum of the movie going. I hate it when movies feel the need to expound on stuff at length by virtue of awkward dialog or some form of expository demonstration rather than explaining it naturally as the story unfolds. They did a good job of reintroducing the tech from the first, as well as new ideas, in a way that didn't bog the momentum. It was a good sequel, and I hope there's another, as this about as close as we've gotten to anime-style storytelling with mecha on the big screen, done well.

[CoryHolmes]

I like the fact that Jaeger tech didn't just disappear, or get shoved into a box somewhere.  There are consequences to these robots, in that everyone keeps trying to make them.  They're like the new nukes, and once that genie was out of the bottle there is no putting it back.  I also liked how the tech kept advancing, and that the new ones are far more capable than the ones from PR1 were.

[sh9000]

 

[M'Kyuun]

That Nerdist take is spot on- that trailer's more exciting than the actual movie.  

After this movie, I'm not sure how they can up the ante, unless they make bigger Jaegers, or turn them into combiners, which would be kinda cool.

[Lorindor]

Just came home from the cinema. The first movie is one of the best science fiction movies of the century according to me, but the second doesn't hold up as well. It felt a bit too much Marvel and too little Del Toro. Still overall pretty good though. I hope there will be a third movie.

Edited April 2, 2018 by Lorindor

[Graham]

Saw it on Monday with wife and son. We all enjoyed it.

I actually really enjoyed it, nearly as much as the original.

The standout for me was Scott Eastwood.  I didn't even know he was in the movie or who he was, but watching the movie, I was like "Wow, this guys is the spitting image of Clint Eastwood". After seeing his name in the credits I Googled him and found out he is the youngest  son of Clint Eastwood....LOL. I'm a huge fan of Clint Eastwood,, especially his Dirty Harry movies. I really wish  Scott had said "Make my day" in the movie.

The actress who played Mako Mori seemed to have really aged  since the first movie,  which is  unusual for Asian girls, or maybe it was just makeup.

[barurutor]

Saw this just before the long weekend last week, whelming movie. Loved the 1st one (even broke my no-Macross toy collecting rule to get DX Chogokin Gypsy Danger), found this one enjoyable. Wonder how they'll jump the shark in the 3rd one if it pushes through.

[renegadeleader1]

I plan on buying some of the HG kits Bandai just put out after seeing them at Anime Boston. I especially like the Braver Phoenix the big bulky brawler he is.

[kajnrig]

They did do a bang-up job on the Jaeger names, didn't they? Shame they didn't do the same for the characters. Jake Pentecost? Couldn't at least have gone with Jacobi Pentecost?

Say what you will about the acting, but Raleigh Becket is a great name. All the first movie's characters had great names. Jake, Amara, and Nate... just don't compare.

Still, all this positive feedback makes me want to see it again now. Gonna try and snag a cheap seat this weekend.

[Tking22]

8 hours ago, kajnrig said:

They did do a bang-up job on the Jaeger names, didn't they? Shame they didn't do the same for the characters. Jake Pentecost? Couldn't at least have gone with Jacobi Pentecost?

Say what you will about the acting, but Raleigh Becket is a great name. All the first movie's characters had great names. Jake, Amara, and Nate... just don't compare.

Still, all this positive feedback makes me want to see it again now. Gonna try and snag a cheap seat this weekend.

The Jaeger names for both films have been the BEST. As a part time Aussie these days, Striker Eureka for our Jaeger put a smile on my face. Aside from that, Romeo Blue, Horizon Brave, Coyote Tango, Cherno Alpha, Diablo Intercept, Tacit Ronin, Matador Fury, all badass.

[ArchieNov]

If you were to name a Jaeger, what would you give it?

[JB0]

13 minutes ago, ArchieNov said:

If you were to name a Jaeger, what would you give it?

Paladin Zeta.

[GabrielV]

I love the first Pacific Rim movie.

I see Evangelion being referenced a lot.  Considering I absolutely loathe Evangelion and everything about it, should I just stay away from Pacific Rim Uprising?

 

[renegadeleader1]

1 hour ago, GabrielV said:

I love the first Pacific Rim movie.

I see Evangelion being referenced a lot.  Considering I absolutely loathe Evangelion and everything about it, should I just stay away from Pacific Rim Uprising?

 

No. The Eva references are only superficial homages. If anything this film feels closer to Getter Robo, Mazinger, and Dai Guard than NGE.

[Scyla]

2 hours ago, ArchieNov said:

If you were to name a Jaeger, what would you give it?

Proxy Aurora 

[TangledThorns]

3 hours ago, ArchieNov said:

If you were to name a Jaeger, what would you give it?

Lazer Facekicker!