Jaeger designs are subjective to personal tastes. Several "older" pilots were lured away to the Private Sector as mentioned in the movie where Scott Eastwood's previous partner ended up working for Shao. As for Mako...she was orphaned early on in the Kaiju War and was raised by Stacker Pentecost who is as hard-assed as they come. Likewise Namani was also orphaned by a Kaiju attack but had no such role model growing up and different people deal with grief in different ways hence why they are different characters.
I just got out of seeing it for the first time. I thought it was aggressively average. Loved the fight scenes and Charlie Day, but everything else was pretty underwhelming. At least we got some really good figures out of this movie though.
Apparently any Chinese involvement of any kind is pandering and shoving Chinese heroism down our throats? Meanwhile, walking no-talent hair-piles like Eastwood's son are fine as our heroic saviors.
Ok, legit question, why the hate for Scott Eastwood? Its not like he did anything offensive in this role. He played the straight-laced All-American posterboy Soldier that played off Boyega's completely opposite role. Is this because he carries the Eastwood name? Seems like a damn high bar to reach.
They are and they aren't. It's not subjective to say the Jaegers adhere to far more conventional design philosophies this time around. They all favour the same armour shapes, they all keep relatively accurate to human proportions, they all feature more conventional energy weapon types. They are objectively less varied in design than the first movie's Jaegers. Cherno was blocky,had big fists, and had a powerplant tower for a head. Crimson had three arms, chicken legs and a cyclops head. Striker was angular, broad-shouldered, with big wings and had a face like the front of a boat. Gipsy was all curves and sleek, like the hull of a ship, with a linebacker's build and a sunken in dome head. In this movie, you have a humanoid robot with somewhat angular armour and a normal visored head. A humanoid robot with somewhat angular armour, slightly digitigrade legs, and a normal visored head. A humanoid robot with curved armour and a normal visored head. Ad lastly, a humanoid.... well, you get what I'm saying. They're far less unique elements to the Uprising Jaegers. That's quantifiable. Again, a poor decision with an explanation is still a poor decision. Its almost like a good backstory makes for a good character, and Namani's half-assed retread of Mako's origin scene likewise affected how much of a more generic character she felt.
Hate is too strong a word. He's just so boring and banal as an actor. He was nothing special in Suicide Squad and he's nothing special here in Pacific Rim 2 (I can't even recall his character's name; his performance was that forgettable). Straight-laced All American poster pretty boy with no talent (and riding daddy's coattails) is exactly what's wrong with him. Meanwhile, Chinese actors get lambasted for having their "heroism shoved down our throats" when their involvement didn't extend beyond supporting characters at best or unwitting patsies to the bad guy's master plan in truth.
the jeager look alot more interesting in the last movie because it consist of multiple generation of jeager... everyone's favorite Cherno Alpha for example, is a mark 1 \ generation 1 jeager, while the main character that named like a striper is a mark 3 jeager... in this movie, all jeager is the same generation... so they all share the same core design, but all of the jeager still looks quite unique.. I especially love the Kaiju Jeager's design..
Well I am not sure if it was mentioned what Mark or Generation this batch of Jaegers are designated but the streamlining of the designs to sleeker look and as mentioned, the previous movie's Jaegers were a mix and match of several Mark designs which survived to the end of the war. The new designs are to evoke more heroic proportions which I am not opposed to. Another thing I enjoyed which I think has not been mentioned is that for the first movie, Jaeger vs. Kaiju battles were frequently in dimly lit locations. Whether it was the night battle in Anchorage, the night and rainy battle in Hong Kong Harbor and the underwater battle near the Breach. In some ways it helped set the tone but a lot of the action was not always visible due to the setting. At least in Uprising we get about 3 daytime battles though 2 of them were technically Jaeger vs Jaeger battles...which is another thing which we've not seen.
You mean "stripper?" Also, I'm well aware the Jaegers in the first movie were different generations. I do own the art book. But here's the thing, they didn't come up with the Generations and build the Jaegers around that, they made the Jaeger designs first and then came up with an explanation for why they look so different. They focused on creating interesting and effective character designs first, then came up with the superfluous backstory. Hell, Cherno and Crimson had their "Marks" changed before the movie came out, even though the designs weren't. Because the explanation was secondary because it wasn't important, making cool robot designs were. Again, I say again, a bad decision is a bad decision, no matter the explanation. "Quite unique" is pushing it a lot The blue Jaeger and Athena could possibly be retools of each other. And there's hardly anything to even say about the red and white one and Bracer. And again, they all use the same design philosophies. Maybe, since it's been ten years, they could've had even more Generations beyond six and made all the Jaegers super unique to reflect that. Again, see how the backstory and "Mark X" designation is pretty damn pointless and can be easily changed? Oh, I mentioned it several times before the movie came out. And to me all it does is make the movie look even cheaper. The Jaegers look so fake and poorly composited into the scenes without the rain and seawater splashing off of them. The cinematography and lighting is dull as dishwater as well without the mood lighting of the nighttime fights or the neon lit Hong Kong battle. The fight scenes absolutely suffer from being over-lit and cheap looking.
He does, and he's still wrong - Gipsy Danger was named after the plane engine according to the designer.
Haven't seen this posted yet but here's a good rundown of why this film is kind of a slap in the face to the original. (I'm not sure why he uses the "to sell toys" marketing because it's not like this movie got a huge toyline that fills up an entire aisle. But I'm glad this movie happened just so Bandai Japan could get their hands on the license and give me toys that won't disintegrate in my hand and have to return and get a new one at Toys R Us EVERY FUCKING WEEK) Where was the music in this movie? I can remember EVERY track that plays during the original. And the original uses its music to its fullest extent. Like when "No Pulse" begins playing as Gipsy strides over to Otachi, cargo freighter in hand. The beats of that track match perfectly with the footsteps of Gipsy, and sync with every smack across Otachi's face. And this is a thing that happens throughout the entire movie which makes the fight scenes so much better. Like, I see comparisons between this and Transformers, but even the first Transformers had moments where the music synced up. Like when Optimus enters the Mission City Battle, transforms, you get that fucking GORGEOUS hero shot while he transforms, and he strikes a pose and calls out Megatron's name. Or the scene when the Autobots arrive on Earth. You get that sense of scale and majesty which I never would have thought Michael Bay of all people could capture (But that might have been Spielberg's influence in the first one) I think someone said it best, PR: Uprising is to Pacific Rim 1 as Halo 4 is to the original Halo games. It's not bad, no, has some new ideas it brings to the table, but they don't work out. And what it tries to emulate from the first movie either fails to bring back those concepts and use them as effectively as the original did, or there's no attempt at all.
I think that no matter the justifications I like PFU less than the original because the sequel is simply less exciting and also and less stylish... It's not a bad movie, it's ok... But the precursor was a great one. PRU without Del Toro never had a chance of matching it. BTW - Saber Athena really reminds me of HK-47 every time. Designs aren't that similar at all, but those small and widely placed eyes combined with reddish hue of the armor... I was hoping for more Mako because she was great in the actual Pacific Rim movie... Oh well.
God I wish GDT came back for the sequel. Why did this movie have development problems thanks to Universal. I mean fuck, think of Hellboy 2 compared to Hellboy 1. It's a great fucking sequel. It builds upon everything the original has to offer, has memorable characters, GREAT set design and cinematography. It's one of those few sequels out there that lives up or surpasses the original in quality Welp, atleast he gave us the Shape of Water (Great film btw if nobody here hasn't seen it) I hope something happens and he comes back for a sequel. I really, really do. Or just someone who knows what the fuck they're doing and can replicate what made the first film so amazing.
The music was definitely a point that fell completely flat in this film. As I said elsewhere, the only moment the music stirred anything in me in PRU was when they teased the theme from the original, and the stir was mostly nostalgia and that feeling that maybe something big was coming. I don't hate this movie, but it didn't come close to touching the first film. I really do wish it hadn't dwindled in development hell for so long. Though, Del Toro has had a couple other films in the meantime that were a good watch. I have yet to catch the Shape of Water, but I've historically loved his films, even the ones that most people aren't fond of. He has a way of capturing a mood, and taking a scene way beyond just the color palate and the actors. That seems to be missing from a lot of directors in our current version of Hollywood. I do hope, if there's any chance at a third, he comes back. The only negative, as I said before, is if he does, PRU is gonna start looking like a turd sandwich made with two slices of the finest artisan bread ever baked.
After much delay, I finally got around to seeing this film. You know what? I liked it a lot. Lacked gravitas compared to the first, moved quicker and left less time for calm or build-up. The brighter shinier edge was pleasant. Callbacks to the first were nice, whether cameos or emulations. Characters, like the first, simple and effective, more chipper, less intense. Newcomers were decent, Amaura and Shao are favourites of mine, and old-timers working their charm. It's a lighter film, more quips, and yet a touch crueller, more visceral in scenes of demise. The Kaiju designs were neat, each of the three distinct in their traits and abilities which carry over neatly to their combined form, itself a delightful monster. Jaegers were samey but pretty; none of them hold a candle to the glory of Crimson, but at least they knew better than to try and hold a candle to the glory of Crimson. Crimson Typhoon best robot. Highlights! -Quite a few interactions, like Jake and Mako's hologramming, Jake and Amaura's banter, Scrapper vs November, "Kiss my ass." -The Mega-Kaiju, literally just called Mega-Kaiju, was every bit as badass as a merged monstrosity ought to be. Combination sequence creeped me out and the end result was delectable. -Fight scenes were pretty darn neat, as it often is in conflicts between robots and monsters. -Clever tactics employed, from reversing cannons to playing possum. -Threw me for a loop for a few times. I appreciate films surprising me. Sadlights! -Would have liked more gravitas to certain entities, namely Obsidian and the individual Kaiju. -Sad times at that one scene. -Slow down, ma boi, take a bit of time. Overall, very enjoyable. Doesn't dethrone the first in my book, but plays a shiny contrast. 8/10, would merge with my fellow Kaiju again.