[Movies] Pacific Rim

This movie is doomed financially.

I am sad.

Just over 100 million worldwide. Needs to do at least 4 times that for the studio not to consider it an utter failure.
 
So, I'll probably only see one "big" movie in theaters this summer. It was going to be Man of Steel, but you all seem sort of happy about this one :p

Which one would you say would be the better choice to go see with my girlfriend?
 
It still has yet to release in China, July 31, and Japan, August 9 as well as several other countries. International take is becoming more and more important to a film than it's ever been.
So, I'll probably only see one "big" movie in theaters this summer. It was going to be Man of Steel, but you all seem sort of happy about this one :p

Which one would you say would be the better choice to go see with my girlfriend?
Both my girlfriend and myself enjoyed Lone Ranger more than Man of Steel, and Pacific Rim far more than either of these.

It's been interesting to watch reactions to the film when guests don't know what it's about. Often I get asked which movie they should go see if I'm sitting at box office doing work(note: I love this dark power people put into my hands as if I'm some font of movie knowledge sent here to guide their choices.) When asked I explain that Pacific Rim has been, so far this year, the most fun movie to watch coupled with an engaging story that, while not stellar, doesn't detract from the awesome that is giant robots pummling giant monsters.

If it's a group of guys they are all for it. If there is one woman, it gets vetoed immediately and they usually settle on grown ups two and a bit of my soul dies.

That said, this only applies to guests that come in with no prior knowledge of the movies we are playing(who does this btw?!). If they had been aware of the film before hand, often the whole group is jazzed to see it.
 
I wouldn't say this is "better" than Man of Steel, it's a very, very different movie. Both are giant action movies so if your gf wants to see giant robots fight then this is it, if she wants to see super powered dudes fight then go see MoS. My wife saw both and liked MoS better, but still enjoyed the heck out of Pacific Rim.
 
For me, maybe not the best parts, but certainly the most memorable of both were the action and fights. In that way I think they are comparable. Where I think Pacific Rim pulls out ahead is that its story didn't detract from the spectacle and enhanced it while Man of Steel's didn't. I won't say I think one or the other was better as a film, but in terms of fun, Pacific Rim any day.

I think it's partially a problem I have with Zack Snyder's style over substance directing vs Del Toro who is able to make a stylistic film heartfelt and engaging.
 
Eh, both have a lot of heart I think, the difference is that Del Toro's feels like you are 12 years old and playing with the most awesome toys in the world and Snyders feels a little heartbreaking because you have to watch your hero deal with life, and life sucks.

So yeah, if you want fun go to Pacific Rim. :)
 
However, I never once thought "Oooh, that's a good line..." while watching it, so it's likely that it won't have a cult following like princess bride.
Cancelin' the apocalypse has potential.

"Today... we are CANCELIN' all leave. Report back to your posts immediately."

"Today... we are CANCELIN' this installation."

"Today... we are CANCELIN' all nookie tonight. You're annoying me with the constant canceling, canceling. Asshole."
 
Are people happy with the way things turned out, that Del Toro dropped out of directing The Hobbit for this? Or wish that he stayed with The Hobbit, meaning we might not have gotten Pacific Rim (or gotten a different version years from now)?
 
Yes. Pacific Rim and the Hobbit were both awesome. This is in no way a similar situation to Singer leaving X-Men 3 and being responsible for two terrible movies in a summer.
 
I think it worked better all around. This way we got Peter Jackson on The Hobbit, which is his wheelhouse seeing as he did the LOTR movies, and we got the best movie of the summer.
 

Cajungal

Staff member
I don't think The Hobbit is a film that *needed* to be made by del Toro. I'm sure I would have enjoyed it, but it wasn't a project that seemed destined for him in the way that some other projects seem destined for others.
 
I don't think The Hobbit is a film that *needed* to be made by del Toro. I'm sure I would have enjoyed it, but it wasn't a project that seemed destined for him in the way that some other projects seem destined for others.
I'm extremely glad that the same Director who did the LOTR movies is the one who ultimately directed The Hobbit. Jackson had a pretty solid vision and as much as I love Del Torro's work, it may have altered the unified vision, even though Jackson still would have been consulting on the movies.
 
I just got back from it. 3D showing.

It... was okay.

The movie was fun and exciting, but there were problems with both the visuals and the plot/writing/characters.

Firstly, as I feared, most of the action took place at night. Or in the rain. Or underwater. Sure, the fight scenes were clearer than, say, Transformers, but they could've been clearer.

Secondly, there were some bizarre plot holes in the movie. Gipsy Danger's got a sword capable of slicing through Kaijus like butter. You didn't think to use it right from the start? Why wait until you're in the stratosphere before pulling it out? Mako's traumatized by her memories so she can't pilot effectively. As opposed to all the other pilots, who never experienced anything traumatic related to the Kaijus, I suppose? Pentecoste puts himself in the cockpit for the final fight, despite being out of practice and at risk of killing himself, the leader of the Jaeger program. Did he forget the hordes of copilot candidates we saw earlier? And just how did Ron Perlman stay alive inside an acid-filled monster's belly for however long he was in there?

Finally, problems with characters. The main character Raleigh has the screen presence and charisma of a random guy off the street, not a professional actor. There were times when I felt like he was trying to do a James Franco impression, and failing. All of Idris Elba's best lines were in the trailer. The young Australian pilot's a two-dimensional asshole, which makes it hard to care about him when the movie tries to sell the heroic sacrifice at the end. And Rinko Kikuchi's performance was rather stilted, possibly because she's not used to performing in English. Oh, and Ron Perlman delivered one of the worst performances I've ever seen from him.

All in all, this movie could've been better. It's not terrible, it's too spectacular to be terrible. But it's a pretty solid C or C- in my book.
 
My mom gave me an interesting insight as to why a few people may not be seeing this film.
She just assumed it was going to be no better than Transformers.
 
It's too late for me to go over all of these, so here's the quick and dirty:

Night scenes: I saw it in 3D, and even with the added darkness, I thought all of the scenes were clear, cinematic, and beautifully arranged. This is going to be subjective, but I thought it looked great.

Secret Sword: Common trope, you never start with your best weapon, no matter how much sense it makes.

General Soon-to-Die getting in a mech: He knew it was going to be a suicide mission, he couldn't send anyone else. Succeed or fail, there would have been no need for him afterwards, because either it works and the Kaiju can no longer cross the threshold, or it fails and they all die. Also, the rule of cool and general badassery comes into play here.

Ron Perlman surviving: We don't know that it was full of acid. It was a baby. Also, see above re: cool and badass. As for his performance, I thought he did rather well for his role. He chewed the scenery just like a character in this genre would be expected to.

Mako's trauma: She's the hotshot rookie with hundreds of hours of training suiting up for the first time. Of course she's going to choke, how else is she supposed to pull a 180 and turn awesome?

Asshole that redeems himself: Really what's important is that his cool dog lived.
 
It's too late for me to go over all of these, so here's the quick and dirty:

Night scenes: I saw it in 3D, and even with the added darkness, I thought all of the scenes were clear, cinematic, and beautifully arranged. This is going to be subjective, but I thought it looked great.

Secret Sword: Common trope, you never start with your best weapon, no matter how much sense it makes.

General Soon-to-Die getting in a mech: He knew it was going to be a suicide mission, he couldn't send anyone else. Succeed or fail, there would have been no need for him afterwards, because either it works and the Kaiju can no longer cross the threshold, or it fails and they all die. Also, the rule of cool and general badassery comes into play here.

Ron Perlman surviving: We don't know that it was full of acid. It was a baby. Also, see above re: cool and badass. As for his performance, I thought he did rather well for his role. He chewed the scenery just like a character in this genre would be expected to.

Mako's trauma: She's the hotshot rookie with hundreds of hours of training suiting up for the first time. Of course she's going to choke, how else is she supposed to pull a 180 and turn awesome?

Asshole that redeems himself: Really what's important is that his cool dog lived.
Yeah I don't think that he got that it was a send-up not a take-by-scene film.
 
I just got back from it. 3D showing.

It... was okay.

The movie was fun and exciting, but there were problems with both the visuals and the plot/writing/characters.

Firstly, as I feared, most of the action took place at night. Or in the rain. Or underwater. Sure, the fight scenes were clearer than, say, Transformers, but they could've been clearer.

Secondly, there were some bizarre plot holes in the movie. Gipsy Danger's got a sword capable of slicing through Kaijus like butter. You didn't think to use it right from the start?
Why wait until you're in the stratosphere before pulling it out?
I know you've watched Voltron, Power Rangers, Evangalion, or any other types of shows like this, this is the way Kaiju is done, and the movie is a love letter to Kaiju.

Mako's traumatized by her memories so she can't pilot effectively. As opposed to all the other pilots, who never experienced anything traumatic related to the Kaijus, I suppose? Pentecoste puts himself in the cockpit for the final fight, despite being out of practice and at risk of killing himself, the leader of the Jaeger program. Did he forget the hordes of copilot candidates we saw earlier?

Not all pilots are drift compatable.

And just how did Ron Perlman stay alive inside an acid-filled monster's belly for however long he was in there?

He wasn't inside the monster's belly, except when the baby ate him, which killed him.

All in all, this movie could've been better. It's not terrible, it's too spectacular to be terrible. But it's a pretty solid C or C- in my book.

You hate joy and fun, and should be sterilized :p
 
Bowie, you didn't see the scene in the end credits?

Anyway, basically, you guys are saying this shit don't make sense, but that's okay because the end result is pretty damn cool?

... I guess I can get behind that.
 
Bowie, you didn't see the scene in the end credits?

Anyway, basically, you guys are saying this shit don't make sense, but that's okay because the end result is pretty damn cool?

... I guess I can get behind that.
No, I didn't stay through the credits. I can guess what happened from your comment.

It's possible the baby doesn't even have acid, each iteration of Kaiju is different from the one before. It also seemed that the acid is separate from the Kaiju's actual saliva because it slobbered all over the Jeagers without it melting them until it purposely spit acid, so it may come from a separate gland, like a spitting cobra.
 
No, I didn't stay through the credits. I can guess what happened from your comment.

It's possible the baby doesn't even have acid, each iteration of Kaiju is different from the one before. It also seemed that the acid is separate from the Kaiju's actual saliva because it slobbered all over the Jeagers without it melting them until it purposely spit acid, so it may come from a separate gland, like a spitting cobra.
Yeah, but he was in there for anywhere between minutes to hours. I don't think he had an air supply with him. I dunno, to me it was a throwaway gag that re-emphasized how things in this movie don't make much sense.
 
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