Eddie the head said:I saw the movie last week and I remember all of the characters names... except for the Russians because they had too many consonantsAC10 said:
This next part is not directed at anyone in particular:
I absolutely reject the criticism of, "Oh the story was weak, or the characters were one dimensional" in this movies case. First off: no the characters were not one dimensional, if you want an example of one dimensional characterization a good example would be Megan Fox's character in Transformers... or any Michael Bay character in any of his movies generally. A lot of people are used to characters "dimensions" being forced down there throats with really heavy handed dialogue that's not particularly subtle, but is often mistaken for being subtle depending on the skill of the writer. For instance: The Dark Knight Rises Bane, also the Joker but he himself isn't subtle and Batman himself, has his characters "dimensions" constantly being pointed to by his incessant, though effective, monologues, constantly screaming, "LOOK! I look like a brute, but I'm actually an uber-intelligent maniac. Doesn't that making me interesting and deep?!" His every waking moment on screen almost seems to take time out to point out that he's got depth. Pacific Rim on the other hand, approaches its character dimensions in a more subtle fashion. Pentecost (Idris Elba) is most noticeably portrayed as the stoic, all-business military commander, literally saying, "I serve as a fixed point for all of you to look towards", but in addition is a genuinely caring individual, who can be wrong, and also uses that stoicism to hide his actual frailties from the people that need him to be rock-solid. Another good example, and a character a lot of people accuse of being one-note, are the two australians Herc and Chuck who have trouble connecting as father and son and actually communicate their relationship through their dog. That's why when Chuck tells his father to take care of him when he leaves it's a highly emotional scene, it's that recognition of trust and connection that they were unable to figure out how to voice.
As for the story: I think a lot of people have a problem separating simple from stupid. A stupid movie tends to be incredibly unfocused and also treat its audience as stupid or just hold them in contempt in general. Once again the Transformers are great examples of this and so are most of Sandlers films. They have no respect for the audiences intelligence, evident in how they constantly take time out to explain why things are happening and how despite the fact that their plot elements are neither complex enough nor strong enough to support the shallow "lore, for lack of a better word... backstory might be more appropriate, and as such makes the movies out to the audience as dumb. Pacific Rim tackles this by using an expositional prologue, in much the same way LOTR used for explaining the creation of the Ring and the backstory behind the conflict between Sauron and the rest of the world. It establishes its rules early and never deviates from them without giving compelling reason, and as such gives the viewers a preset basis in which to judge the events that happen in the film. Its plot is simple, but it's executed really well, with some really solid acting, and assumes the viewer is intelligent enough to grasp the fundamentals it laid out in advance. There are no loose ends or dangling plot threads or holes, except for the sword, and it doesn't resort to cheap methods of distraction, like racist robots, to try to hide the plots shortcomings. I can guarantee that if anyone has a question about something in the movie, minus the sword, that there is an answer for it that was elaborated on in the movie. Now the story might not be everyones cup of tea, and that's more than fine/ to each their own, but it's not stupid... it's simple and well executed. The Lord of the Rings were simple and that didn't detract from them.
Ultimately, whether you like the movie or not isn't my concern. Everyone's free to their own opinions. But these points however are not opinion and had to be addressed. To me Pacific Rim knew what it was trying to be and was exceptional because it went above and beyond what it actually needed to do to just be good. Sorry this was so long.
Pacific Rim Discussion *spoilers*
- Thread starter Keiichi Morisato
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I believe it's Operation Crossroads the Baker Test. It sunk like 9 ships. Here's the wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Crossroads#Test_Baker
If you want more I can search for it. Also yeah I'm with you on the fish part, that was just for effect. I'm more interested in the water displacement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Crossroads#Test_Baker
If you want more I can search for it. Also yeah I'm with you on the fish part, that was just for effect. I'm more interested in the water displacement.
I didn't like how they had blades attached to their arms the entire time, but they preferred punching for some reason. I mean at first I thought they were justified in the beginning with that explanation of kaiju blood was incredibly harmful to the environment, so blowing them up and cutting them up were not viable options (and therefore resorting to blunt force makes sense) but they still use missiles and blades anyway. Also they had boosters on their back the whole time? Why didn't they just use that instead of slowly stomping through the water? I know there's holding stuff like that for dramatic effect, but when every battle is potentially the last battle, there's no excuse to be holding back.
Did you watch 3 yet? It doesn't sound like you've watched 3 yet. 3 makes up for anything that was lacking in the other two movies in spades (and I'm totally fine with that).SajuukKhar said:
Ok, I liked the movie. But I also had gripes with it.
First & biggest gripe, why giant robots? In most newer anime there is at least an attempt to explain why the super-weapon is in the form of a *really* *big* humanoid-Eva is of course the classic example, the giant monsters are invulnerable because of their AT fields, only the Eva units can make an AT field to counter it. But in PR they actually state that the first few Kaiju were killed by conventional military forces...in the first couple of cases conventional forces that had no preparation for or experience with this type of foe. Giant robots just seemed...inefficient. I could buy the robots being a *part* of military forces designed to fight the Kaiju, in fact the first thing that occurred to me was that I would use the robots to keep the Kaiju's attention while the 'sucker punch' came from a helicopter or tank with a heavy weapon designed to take the monster down. They demonstrated that 3 helicopters could carry the whole robot, surely one helicopter could be armed with an equivalent plasma gun.
Then there were the constant references to giant robot anime...now oddly enough this is the sort of thing that I usually quite enjoy, but for some reason after the first couple they started to fall flat...eventually after going "oh just like in Eva", "Oh just like in Gunbuster", "Oh just like in Eva", "Oh just like in Giant Robo" I was starting to wonder when Ranma was going to show up in this fanfic.
Why was Mako critical of Becket during the sparring sessions? She says he could have finished the fights two moves earlier, but then before her match with him it's pointed out that the matches weren't actually fights, but "a dialogue". You don't *want* to end a dialogue sooner.
So yeah, I liked it, but it was far from perfect.
First & biggest gripe, why giant robots? In most newer anime there is at least an attempt to explain why the super-weapon is in the form of a *really* *big* humanoid-Eva is of course the classic example, the giant monsters are invulnerable because of their AT fields, only the Eva units can make an AT field to counter it. But in PR they actually state that the first few Kaiju were killed by conventional military forces...in the first couple of cases conventional forces that had no preparation for or experience with this type of foe. Giant robots just seemed...inefficient. I could buy the robots being a *part* of military forces designed to fight the Kaiju, in fact the first thing that occurred to me was that I would use the robots to keep the Kaiju's attention while the 'sucker punch' came from a helicopter or tank with a heavy weapon designed to take the monster down. They demonstrated that 3 helicopters could carry the whole robot, surely one helicopter could be armed with an equivalent plasma gun.
Then there were the constant references to giant robot anime...now oddly enough this is the sort of thing that I usually quite enjoy, but for some reason after the first couple they started to fall flat...eventually after going "oh just like in Eva", "Oh just like in Gunbuster", "Oh just like in Eva", "Oh just like in Giant Robo" I was starting to wonder when Ranma was going to show up in this fanfic.
Why was Mako critical of Becket during the sparring sessions? She says he could have finished the fights two moves earlier, but then before her match with him it's pointed out that the matches weren't actually fights, but "a dialogue". You don't *want* to end a dialogue sooner.
So yeah, I liked it, but it was far from perfect.
The story, I can kinda understand why its so predictable. Its supposed to be very cartoon like, so the story is gonna be simple. It also allowed for the really funny scientists and the cool Hannibal.
One of the things I really didn't like was that they killed off the Russians and Chinese WAY to quickly. The chinese bot had three freaking arms! They should've had one of the best fight scenes ever!
And the Russian characters were so cool, I really wish they had some actual development. And their bot was just awesome. It didn't need any fancy gadgets, guns or swords, it punches and wrestles Kaiju to death.
But, they were just swept aside to make room for OP Gypsy Danger, who hogged all the fight scenes.
Another problem were the ejected pods. Why didn't the Chinese or Austrailians use them whilst they were about to be killed?
And finally, the Cat. 5 Kaiju at the end didn't seem that big or impressive compared to the others, and it certainly wasn't as good as the Cat 4. Leatherback and Otachi.
Apart from that, the film was awesome!
One of the things I really didn't like was that they killed off the Russians and Chinese WAY to quickly. The chinese bot had three freaking arms! They should've had one of the best fight scenes ever!
And the Russian characters were so cool, I really wish they had some actual development. And their bot was just awesome. It didn't need any fancy gadgets, guns or swords, it punches and wrestles Kaiju to death.
But, they were just swept aside to make room for OP Gypsy Danger, who hogged all the fight scenes.
Another problem were the ejected pods. Why didn't the Chinese or Austrailians use them whilst they were about to be killed?
And finally, the Cat. 5 Kaiju at the end didn't seem that big or impressive compared to the others, and it certainly wasn't as good as the Cat 4. Leatherback and Otachi.
Apart from that, the film was awesome!
Overall I like the film and I probably need to rewatched some mech anime like Eva to get the actual "reference" used in the film (other than the main character partner is suppose to be Rei from Eva despite her personality is different from Rei).
The only nitpicks I can say is that the younger Australian pliot is the cliche douche who is distrustful toward the main character, oh gee where have I see that character archtype before?
Also the two scientist acting more like an oddcouple. Ok sure they were funny but it did feel kind of out of place as in it was kind of unrealistic people you meet in real life or that I never met that sort of wacky persons so far.
Granted those nitpicks are something I can overlook as the overally quality of the film is sound.
Lastly I didn't had a problem with two of the crews being killed of so quickly before we get any character development as this is happened before in film and beside an battle of any sort is never suppose to be fair.
EDIT- Having watching the film twice now (watch it with my Uncle) I found out two more questionable moments.
1. Why did the leader send that scientist on his own when looking for the black market guy especially when he said he cannot be trust? Surely he could of spared someone to go along with him seeing how they got plenty of people to move about in those hanger scenes (heh if they did got someone to go with him, they could of alter the scene with that Kaiju came looking for him and ate that person that went with him instead).
2. I notice there was abit of a pacing/ night and day problem. The scene with that scientist and Hannibal were night but then that scene when the leader decided to removed that girl were set during the day.
Also after defeating the two Kaiju, it was morning time but then the scene when they were harvesting the corpse were still at night well it was approaching to morning but still.
The only nitpicks I can say is that the younger Australian pliot is the cliche douche who is distrustful toward the main character, oh gee where have I see that character archtype before?
Also the two scientist acting more like an oddcouple. Ok sure they were funny but it did feel kind of out of place as in it was kind of unrealistic people you meet in real life or that I never met that sort of wacky persons so far.
Granted those nitpicks are something I can overlook as the overally quality of the film is sound.
Lastly I didn't had a problem with two of the crews being killed of so quickly before we get any character development as this is happened before in film and beside an battle of any sort is never suppose to be fair.
EDIT- Having watching the film twice now (watch it with my Uncle) I found out two more questionable moments.
1. Why did the leader send that scientist on his own when looking for the black market guy especially when he said he cannot be trust? Surely he could of spared someone to go along with him seeing how they got plenty of people to move about in those hanger scenes (heh if they did got someone to go with him, they could of alter the scene with that Kaiju came looking for him and ate that person that went with him instead).
2. I notice there was abit of a pacing/ night and day problem. The scene with that scientist and Hannibal were night but then that scene when the leader decided to removed that girl were set during the day.
Also after defeating the two Kaiju, it was morning time but then the scene when they were harvesting the corpse were still at night well it was approaching to morning but still.
It's one of those movies you can't think too much about or ask to many questions of. It was the way it was because it had to be. If you think too much, you'd know those Kaiju would probably collapse under their own weight moment they tried to leave the ocean, thanks to the square cube law.
You can sort of get how the 2 were destroyed so quickly, because they were surprised by brand new attacks that were apparently never seen before. But the deal with the sword arm not being used when it would have made ALL the difference earlier on was kinda silly. They should have make a short scene about it being a new device being installed. I remember thinking before they showed it, why the F don't they make some big ass melee weapon for these things to use? A giant sword or a chainsaw, or a pick. That would probably help with that armored carapace.
Also, if you think about it, those Jaegers would have been far more heavily armed if we were able to construct such machines. Using mostly brawling tactics wouldn't really make sense. It would probably make more to design a unit around being strong and durable to restrain/slow down/attract a Kaiju while other Jaegers designed like artillery and sniping units. A big ole' railgun Jaeger would seem to be called for. Also since most of them apparently couldn't fly(which required the biggest disregard of belief in the whole move IMO), they should have designed better helicopter/airship weapons that would have some effect that could hover out of reach and provide fire support for the Jaegers. I also wondered about a giant needle appendage filled with the most potent neuro toxins or some other poisons or contaminants.
Anyway, if you think too much about it, it'll make less sense. But I agree that 3 armed and Russian Jaegers were killed off a little too fast. But I still enjoyed the movie overall.
You can sort of get how the 2 were destroyed so quickly, because they were surprised by brand new attacks that were apparently never seen before. But the deal with the sword arm not being used when it would have made ALL the difference earlier on was kinda silly. They should have make a short scene about it being a new device being installed. I remember thinking before they showed it, why the F don't they make some big ass melee weapon for these things to use? A giant sword or a chainsaw, or a pick. That would probably help with that armored carapace.
Also, if you think about it, those Jaegers would have been far more heavily armed if we were able to construct such machines. Using mostly brawling tactics wouldn't really make sense. It would probably make more to design a unit around being strong and durable to restrain/slow down/attract a Kaiju while other Jaegers designed like artillery and sniping units. A big ole' railgun Jaeger would seem to be called for. Also since most of them apparently couldn't fly(which required the biggest disregard of belief in the whole move IMO), they should have designed better helicopter/airship weapons that would have some effect that could hover out of reach and provide fire support for the Jaegers. I also wondered about a giant needle appendage filled with the most potent neuro toxins or some other poisons or contaminants.
Anyway, if you think too much about it, it'll make less sense. But I agree that 3 armed and Russian Jaegers were killed off a little too fast. But I still enjoyed the movie overall.
Why the hell were all the battles at night and on (or near) Hong Kong?!? Sure, we caught a quick glimpse of SF during the opening sequence but even then it was in the goddamn rain! This would have been a better movie if the kaiju had appeared at various locations along the Pacific rim. How about Honolulu?!? San Diego?!? Vancouver?!? And once? JUST ONCE? in the daytime.
Pacific Rim was pretty damn cool.
I liked how they got straight into it with a narration at the begging then fighting straight away. But yeah INCREDIBLY predictable plot, guessed he'd sacrifice himself with Gipsy Danger being nuclear. (though he did escape). But I didn't go there for a detailed plot, more for Robots and Monsters. I really wasn't expecting the Chinese and Russians to get killed off so quickly though, would like to have seen more of them. And the eject pods, I can see why the Chinese couldn't use them, their head was crushed...but the Russians could've used them, and the Australians (though they probably wouldn't have escaped the blast).
I really liked all the pilots though, Raleigh and Mako were especially awesome. And I thought the whole idea was just quality. Personally though if had a mech with a gigantic sword I would be using that more than a solid fist.
The two scientists for me were the weird part, they didn't 'fit' really, something seemed extremely B-Movie about them two. And the Category 5 Kaiju went down very easily, it had to call for help immediately.
The fights though were brilliant, I really like when Gipsy was dragging the ship, how more badass can you get than using a container ship as a club.
What I would most have like would've been to see all four Jaegers fighting at the same time. I was really disappointed by the Russian death because theirs looked amazing. They defend Siberia for 6 years and get killed by acid. :/
But I've been listening to the sountrack ever since I got back, really wanna go see it again.
I liked how they got straight into it with a narration at the begging then fighting straight away. But yeah INCREDIBLY predictable plot, guessed he'd sacrifice himself with Gipsy Danger being nuclear. (though he did escape). But I didn't go there for a detailed plot, more for Robots and Monsters. I really wasn't expecting the Chinese and Russians to get killed off so quickly though, would like to have seen more of them. And the eject pods, I can see why the Chinese couldn't use them, their head was crushed...but the Russians could've used them, and the Australians (though they probably wouldn't have escaped the blast).
I really liked all the pilots though, Raleigh and Mako were especially awesome. And I thought the whole idea was just quality. Personally though if had a mech with a gigantic sword I would be using that more than a solid fist.
The two scientists for me were the weird part, they didn't 'fit' really, something seemed extremely B-Movie about them two. And the Category 5 Kaiju went down very easily, it had to call for help immediately.
The fights though were brilliant, I really like when Gipsy was dragging the ship, how more badass can you get than using a container ship as a club.
What I would most have like would've been to see all four Jaegers fighting at the same time. I was really disappointed by the Russian death because theirs looked amazing. They defend Siberia for 6 years and get killed by acid. :/
But I've been listening to the sountrack ever since I got back, really wanna go see it again.
I give a lot of the things that I wanted to see but didn't a pass in Pacific Rim for the same reason I give the first Transformers movie a pass. The budget just wasn't there to do the things I wanted to see.
To be honest I'd have preferred all 4 Jaegers still be in fighting condition for the final push and have the Chinese and Russian crews die fighting the class 5. But to do that we'd have had a big mainland fight between the Jaeger's and Kaiju where Gipsey Danger's pilots prove their worth as well as the big final push...and I doubt they had the budget.
To be fair I stll LOVED this movie, but I recognize that it had to cut corners here and there.
To be honest I'd have preferred all 4 Jaegers still be in fighting condition for the final push and have the Chinese and Russian crews die fighting the class 5. But to do that we'd have had a big mainland fight between the Jaeger's and Kaiju where Gipsey Danger's pilots prove their worth as well as the big final push...and I doubt they had the budget.
To be fair I stll LOVED this movie, but I recognize that it had to cut corners here and there.
I thought the movies was good and entertaining. Having said that, i cant help pick apart all the many things that made no sense whatsoever.
Why build a huge wall? If they had effective plasma guns and big cannons on the mechs themselves, why not coastal batteries?
If they knew where the kaiju were coming from and detected them when they came through, why not put nukes right at the edge so when they come through, boom? Then just replace the nukes.
The BIGGEST thing that made no sense. What purpose did the neural link serve in operating the mechs? If you watch the movie, they control them with actual physical controls. I.E. big stair climbers for feet, holographic wrist interfaces for arms. Console with buttons for everything else. What purpose, exactly, does linking your brain to it serve when its obviously not controlled by your brain?
Why build a huge wall? If they had effective plasma guns and big cannons on the mechs themselves, why not coastal batteries?
If they knew where the kaiju were coming from and detected them when they came through, why not put nukes right at the edge so when they come through, boom? Then just replace the nukes.
The BIGGEST thing that made no sense. What purpose did the neural link serve in operating the mechs? If you watch the movie, they control them with actual physical controls. I.E. big stair climbers for feet, holographic wrist interfaces for arms. Console with buttons for everything else. What purpose, exactly, does linking your brain to it serve when its obviously not controlled by your brain?
My summary opinion: this movie was amazing.
All the complaints about it being too fast-paced...well, I honestly have them as well, but I can't see what the alternative would be. Guys, this is already a 2.25 hour movie. Are we going to pad it out to 3 hours, which only movies like Lord of the Rings really do these days, so we can include more of the secondary mechas? I'm not sure what could have been done there. Arguably it was the right length, as it left everyone wanting MORE MORE MORE (which is why lots of complaints are like "why didn't we see more of this, even though the movie was already normal length).
I do wish the final battle had been a bit longer, what with the Category 5 being a Never Before Seen Epic Monster, but come on, they had a nuke, they were going to detonate it in something's face, even the Kaiju can't take a nuclear bomb to the head. If the fight had dragged out, you'd get people wondering why Striker Eureka died with smart bombs. It was also pretty proven that there was no real way the Jaegers were going to survive a lengthy drawn-out fight with the Cat 5, because they got themselves blown to hell during the first 10 seconds of the battle. It's 4 4 and 5 against two robots. No. That's not a fight, it's a slaughter, and one side just has to get the jump on the other.
The movie didn't make scientific sense, but if anyone is whining about *that*, they're doing it wrong. This is not a movie *about* being scientifically accurate. It's about being fun. It's about taking a classic mecha anime, with all its Power of Friendship tropes and its bigass swords and its ridiculous impractical fight scenes, and bringing it to life. I had a friend complaining that if the Kaiju were from another universe, they would probably not resemble anything from our reality, but *why do we care?* Answer: we don't. And if you're looking for that, you're barking up the wrong movie tree.
Some people think the characters feel rushed, and I sort of agree, but the point is that we don't have *time* to learn about these people. We have to see them as they are, with no introductions, because the movie setting demands it. There's no time to faff around. The world is about to end, and it's not going to wait for anyone's drama or bullshit. The scientists make it very clear that Earth is on the verge of Phase 2 here, where the Kaiju masters start sending out exterminators to clean up the human population, rather than just smashing up cities and panicking us and taking out our military infrastructure. We have no time for Raleigh and Mako to hash things out and learn how to pilot with each other (in fact, the way they can just ignore their issues says something about their competence in battle). We have no time to build more robots. We have no time to explore the Kaiju. We can do all that once the world's existence is assured. The plot leaves no time for anything slow to ever happen. Everyone is always running or planning at the speed of light. Maybe the one moment of slow time we get is where Mako and Raleigh are sitting in front of the Jaeger and watching it be rebuilt, but even if they're not doing anything, the background is. Something is always happening.
Also, the two other Jaegers. What were they going to do? Giving those guys as much fight time as Gipsy Danger would drastically lengthen the movie, and while I certainly could have handled another fight scene, the movie was already average length and didn't need to be much longer before at least some viewers would start scratching their heads. I guess they could have saved them for the final fight or put them in the main battle, but having them die because Newt linked up to a Kaiju brain and told them all the Jaegers' secrets was pretty neat. The EMP trick was especially awesome, I'd say. So really...I don't know where they were going to show up, if they did live. I will agree that 15 minutes more screen time for them wouldn't have hurt anyone...I guess that's what we have the Extended Cut, which I'm sure will exist on DVD, for.
The plot feels tropey because it's supposed to. It's a classic mecha anime/kaiju movie. It took the tropes and used them well. Del Toro did the equivalent of looking back at a classic movie and, instead of just remastering it, taking bits and pieces and stringing them together into something new. You can see all the parts there, but they're moving and acting in a totally different and really awesome way.
Also, bonus points for *not* having a kiss in the movie.
All the complaints about it being too fast-paced...well, I honestly have them as well, but I can't see what the alternative would be. Guys, this is already a 2.25 hour movie. Are we going to pad it out to 3 hours, which only movies like Lord of the Rings really do these days, so we can include more of the secondary mechas? I'm not sure what could have been done there. Arguably it was the right length, as it left everyone wanting MORE MORE MORE (which is why lots of complaints are like "why didn't we see more of this, even though the movie was already normal length).
I do wish the final battle had been a bit longer, what with the Category 5 being a Never Before Seen Epic Monster, but come on, they had a nuke, they were going to detonate it in something's face, even the Kaiju can't take a nuclear bomb to the head. If the fight had dragged out, you'd get people wondering why Striker Eureka died with smart bombs. It was also pretty proven that there was no real way the Jaegers were going to survive a lengthy drawn-out fight with the Cat 5, because they got themselves blown to hell during the first 10 seconds of the battle. It's 4 4 and 5 against two robots. No. That's not a fight, it's a slaughter, and one side just has to get the jump on the other.
The movie didn't make scientific sense, but if anyone is whining about *that*, they're doing it wrong. This is not a movie *about* being scientifically accurate. It's about being fun. It's about taking a classic mecha anime, with all its Power of Friendship tropes and its bigass swords and its ridiculous impractical fight scenes, and bringing it to life. I had a friend complaining that if the Kaiju were from another universe, they would probably not resemble anything from our reality, but *why do we care?* Answer: we don't. And if you're looking for that, you're barking up the wrong movie tree.
Some people think the characters feel rushed, and I sort of agree, but the point is that we don't have *time* to learn about these people. We have to see them as they are, with no introductions, because the movie setting demands it. There's no time to faff around. The world is about to end, and it's not going to wait for anyone's drama or bullshit. The scientists make it very clear that Earth is on the verge of Phase 2 here, where the Kaiju masters start sending out exterminators to clean up the human population, rather than just smashing up cities and panicking us and taking out our military infrastructure. We have no time for Raleigh and Mako to hash things out and learn how to pilot with each other (in fact, the way they can just ignore their issues says something about their competence in battle). We have no time to build more robots. We have no time to explore the Kaiju. We can do all that once the world's existence is assured. The plot leaves no time for anything slow to ever happen. Everyone is always running or planning at the speed of light. Maybe the one moment of slow time we get is where Mako and Raleigh are sitting in front of the Jaeger and watching it be rebuilt, but even if they're not doing anything, the background is. Something is always happening.
Also, the two other Jaegers. What were they going to do? Giving those guys as much fight time as Gipsy Danger would drastically lengthen the movie, and while I certainly could have handled another fight scene, the movie was already average length and didn't need to be much longer before at least some viewers would start scratching their heads. I guess they could have saved them for the final fight or put them in the main battle, but having them die because Newt linked up to a Kaiju brain and told them all the Jaegers' secrets was pretty neat. The EMP trick was especially awesome, I'd say. So really...I don't know where they were going to show up, if they did live. I will agree that 15 minutes more screen time for them wouldn't have hurt anyone...I guess that's what we have the Extended Cut, which I'm sure will exist on DVD, for.
The plot feels tropey because it's supposed to. It's a classic mecha anime/kaiju movie. It took the tropes and used them well. Del Toro did the equivalent of looking back at a classic movie and, instead of just remastering it, taking bits and pieces and stringing them together into something new. You can see all the parts there, but they're moving and acting in a totally different and really awesome way.
Also, bonus points for *not* having a kiss in the movie.
I'm definitely in agreement that the Chinese and Russians should have had more action time, but other than that problem and one small nit-pick, I loved the movie. The nit-pick being that scene where the robot taps a table in an office building then proceeds to crush the entire building shortly thereafter. That scene could have been removed to make room for a witty one-liner after the MC ejects from Gipsy.
What the Rebuilds are is shinier, more compact, and most importantly different (except for 1.0, which is basically the first couple episodes incompetently squished together). And it's not like you have to hurry, Evangelion Final isn't even due out until some time next year.Johnny Novgorod said:
I'm no mecha expert, in fact I'm quite the opposite, but the only anime I can think of that attempt to explain why the weapons in question are giant humanoid robots are the original Gundam, Evangelion (which operates under a different definition of the word "explain" than the rest of us), and - don't laugh - Gurren Lagann. That aside, conventional military forces were successful in taking down a Kaiju...after a week of constant fighting and the destruction of six cities. And that was probably a Category 1. Now if you want an explanation as for why the Jaeger's weapons couldn't just be mounted on a plane or something, well...look, it's an Angel! *runs away*Little Woodsman said:
I actually got more of a Gundam vibe. The Gundam series has a very strong "giant robots as angels/divine" element to it, and there's some of that in Pacific Rim, like when the sun appears behind Pentecost's Jaeger. The Jaegers never had wings, though.Izanagi009 said:
Maybe in the sequel.
There is over an hour of deleted footage.Akichi Daikashima said:
We will get an extended edition and there better be some damn Cherno Alpha.
I had a lot of problems with PR to the point where I'm actually surprised how much other people liked it. For me, most of it was either a lot of buildup with no payoff, or outright contradictions/lapses in logic.
Okay, dig this:
1. So the sallow bureaucrats decide that this wall idea is the best defense against giant monsters. Why? I didn't see any guns on the walls, I saw no reason the kaiju couldn't just climb over (not to mention: smash through). What, exactly, did they think giant, impractical, continent-spanning seawalls would do that Jaeger didn't?
2. So in the expo-intro we're told that the Jaeger are the best weapon against the Kaiju, right? So why is it for the whole movie we're only seeing the Jaeger getting their asses kicked? In every fight we're seeing own or more Jaeger getting their balls rocked. By the time they revealed the C5, I didn't really feel like the stakes were raised because at that point it was just a larger shoe sized being buried in their already abused cracks (and it could have just been a C3 for the difference it made to the plot).
3. What's the deal with drifting? I thought the premise was that you had to be super close and emotionally in-sync with your partner, yeah? They make drift compatibility a huge issue in the plot. Yet, it seems that any old asshole can do it. An American can drift with a Japanese woman several years his junior, A Brit (at least I think Marshall was British) can drift with an Aussie, -Hell- a man can drift with a Kaiju with nothing but a nosebleed for his trouble. So...what was the point of bringing it up if it had no bearing on the plot (other than the oh-so-memorable character of Mako wouldn't have been a pilot otherwise)?
4. Could the story and monsters be any more milktoast? When I heard they were deliberately calling their giant monsters Kaiju, I was prepared for Gigan, Ghidorah, Biolante, or at least Mothra... not those ones specifically, but -you know- cool monsters with awesome powers that have to be overcome on a case-by-case. But no...apart from the EMP monster, they don't appear to have any special abilities. None of them are memorable (or even all that distinct) except for the one that flies. Yawn.
Okay, dig this:
1. So the sallow bureaucrats decide that this wall idea is the best defense against giant monsters. Why? I didn't see any guns on the walls, I saw no reason the kaiju couldn't just climb over (not to mention: smash through). What, exactly, did they think giant, impractical, continent-spanning seawalls would do that Jaeger didn't?
2. So in the expo-intro we're told that the Jaeger are the best weapon against the Kaiju, right? So why is it for the whole movie we're only seeing the Jaeger getting their asses kicked? In every fight we're seeing own or more Jaeger getting their balls rocked. By the time they revealed the C5, I didn't really feel like the stakes were raised because at that point it was just a larger shoe sized being buried in their already abused cracks (and it could have just been a C3 for the difference it made to the plot).
3. What's the deal with drifting? I thought the premise was that you had to be super close and emotionally in-sync with your partner, yeah? They make drift compatibility a huge issue in the plot. Yet, it seems that any old asshole can do it. An American can drift with a Japanese woman several years his junior, A Brit (at least I think Marshall was British) can drift with an Aussie, -Hell- a man can drift with a Kaiju with nothing but a nosebleed for his trouble. So...what was the point of bringing it up if it had no bearing on the plot (other than the oh-so-memorable character of Mako wouldn't have been a pilot otherwise)?
4. Could the story and monsters be any more milktoast? When I heard they were deliberately calling their giant monsters Kaiju, I was prepared for Gigan, Ghidorah, Biolante, or at least Mothra... not those ones specifically, but -you know- cool monsters with awesome powers that have to be overcome on a case-by-case. But no...apart from the EMP monster, they don't appear to have any special abilities. None of them are memorable (or even all that distinct) except for the one that flies. Yawn.
...Hafrael said:
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!
Also, +1 Hell's Yeah to more Cherno Alpha.