There was a lot of excitement leading up to Pacific Rim. The 2013 release of the first Pacific Rim directed by Guillermo del Toro allowed the creative mastermind a huge budget which would be needed to create such a large-scale blockbuster. With a star-studded cast and a composer as the top of their game, what could possibly go wrong? Any nerd that loved transformers, Gundam, Godzilla or nearly anything in the realm of science fantasy fiction would surely love this, right?
Well, that was the problem. Expectations were far too high and nearly everyone that it aimed to please was, to some degree, disappointed. The result was a relatively poor domestic box office performance, although the overseas audience (especially in China) agreed with the fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, enjoying the sheer entertainment value the film brought.
Fast forward to 2018 to the sequel, Pacific Rim Uprising, and expectations were far lower. Without legendary creator Guillermo del Toro, composer Ramin Djawadi and the first movie’s lead actor, we felt the film took a much different approach. Using a much smaller budget, they decided to use John Boyega’s skills to create a much more charming experience. The result was a film that made its budget back on opening weekend, dethroning Black Panther, despite its much lower score (~25%) on Rotten Tomatoes.
Even though they were five years apart, this time, we left the theater much more satisfied with the experience. We’re nearly positive that managing our expectations was the cause of that satisfaction. I expected the first one to compete for the title of one of my favorite movies ever (it is basically everything I love) but they tried to hard to make a good movie, we thought. Pacific Rim Uprising was trying to put a smile on the audience’s face and it did that, many times over.
MAJOR SPOILERS!
Sure, it was corny, but the writing wasn’t that bad… just simple. It was simple enough to fit the teenage-heavy cast and the much lighter feeling in this film, which saw the jaegers dismantled by the kaiju without the deaths of the pilots. Rivalries amongst characters were easily mended, the corrupt business people didn’t end up being evil (the aliens were) and the good guys won with minimal casualties. Plus, they set it up well for a sequel. The only question we have is… where did Charlie Hunnam’s character go?
Definitely worth seeing on the big screen because of the colossal fight scenes with clean editing, loud noises and lots of monster guts. If you were excited to see the first one, you’ll enjoy this enough to justify paying for your ticket! It’s definitely a film that you’ll want to eat popcorn while watching. And as always, stay hungry and fit!
