As a child of the 80s and 90s, I grew up on Transformers and the Power Rangers, so when Pacific Rim came out in 2013, it was everything I wanted in a movie. Giant robots fighting sea monsters sounded so awesome! Couple that with a director like Guillermo del Toro (who just won an Oscar for Best Director and Best Picture for The Shape of Water), and it was a win for me. I saw the movie three times in theaters. I own the DVD. The soundtrack is one of my favorite pieces of music (and that theme song can pump anyone up!).
If you haven’t seen Pacific Rim, the movie is set in the near future where humans have built Jaegers (giant robots) to fight the Kaiju, sea monsters that come up from a breach in the Pacific Ocean and attack coastal cities like San Francisco, Sydney, and Hong Kong. The movie stars Charlie Hunnam as Raleigh Becket, a washed-up Jaeger pilot; Idris Elba as General Stacker Pentecost, a commanding officer who brings Raleigh back into the fray; and Rinko Kikichi as Mako Mori, who becomes Raleigh’s new co-pilot. What I loved about the first movie was the heart of each character. It was about found family, the underdogs winning the battle, and love and sacrifice. Although this movie was made in 2013, the themes of war and immigration (after the Jaeger program is dismantled, giant walls are erected in each country to keep the Kaiju out) are very familiar to today’s world.
When I heard in 2015 there was going to be a sequel, I was really excited. Del Toro was going to be back, and I was curious to see how he could expand on the series (and potentially create a new franchise). But there were studio delays, and it felt like the movie wasn’t going to be made. Then, del Toro announced in 2016 he wasn’t going to be directing the movie anymore and that a new script was going to be written. Honestly, I was disappointed. Although I’m a fan of the new writer and director, Steven DeKnight (he wrote for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, and he was the showrunner for the first season of Daredevil), I was unsure of the sequel’s direction. At least del Toro was going to stay on as a producer. Then, John Boyega was announced as the movie’s new lead. I love Boyega, but he was playing the son of Stacker Pentacost (a son that he never mentioned in the first movie, and in the first movie, he played a father figure to Mako, who also never mentioned having a brother). So either they are retconning the first movie, or Stacker never knew he had a son. That didn’t feel like a good sign to me.
The first trailer dropped in November 2017.
When I first watched it, I was pretty skeptical. Then, “Canceling the Apocalypse” kicked in 40 seconds into the trailer (it’s my favorite track from the first movie’s soundtrack). I liked the callbacks to the original movie with Stacker and Mako (also the appearances from Dr. Newt Geiszler [Charlie Day] and Dr. Hermann Gottlieb [Burn Gorman] from the first movie). The rap music and the bright colors are definitely a different vibe from the first movie. It looks like the pilots are also younger, whereas in the first movie, it was the old war veterans tasked with saving the world. I also liked seeing more women and people of color. The robots are also bigger and more agile compared to the first movie. I assume since 10 years have passed since the first movie, technology has become more advanced.
A second trailer dropped in January 2018.
I definitely preferred the first one better. Although more story was told in this trailer, it reminded me too much of the Michael Bay Transformers movies. It looks like are marketing it toward a younger crowd with the big explosions and bright colors.
After watching both trailers, I hope the movie hasn’t lost the heart that I loved from the first movie. What I love about del Toro is that he takes genre elements (in this case, giant robots fighting sea monsters) and turns them into human stories. I hope Pacific Rim Uprising doesn’t lose that message.
Pacific Rim Uprising opens in theaters in the United States on March 23, 2018. Stay tuned for a Sound Off! from me and the other Speculative Chic contributors who are excited for this film.
I definitely plan on re-watching Pacific Rim before seeing the sequel. I’ve only seen it once, but enjoyed it a lot, so I don’t have as much invested in the sequel as other fans do. That said, your commentary about the trailer looking like it’s for a Michael Bay movie…. disturbingly spot-on.