“THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!!!”
October 6, 2017 11:25 AM   Subscribe

 
QUESTION: How do you top a movie that had giant robots fighting giant monsters?
ANSWER: A movie with even more robots fighting larger monsters!
posted by Fizz at 11:26 AM on October 6, 2017 [11 favorites]


Glad to see Hermann and Newt in the trailer. Disappointed to realize they're the only familiar faces. Looks like they're going for the YA audience on this one.
posted by KHAAAN! at 11:29 AM on October 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


This is one of those movies I want to see even though I'm pretty sure I can reliably predict everything that's going to happen in it without having seen any media about it.
posted by ardgedee at 11:29 AM on October 6, 2017 [13 favorites]


WE HAVE NOT YET CANCELED THE APOCOLYPSE
posted by rebent at 11:32 AM on October 6, 2017 [19 favorites]


Glad to see Hermann and Newt in the trailer. Disappointed to realize they're the only familiar faces.

Rinko Kikuchi is returning as Mako. She has a brief cameo in the middle of the trailer (0:49), with a different hairstyle than the last film.

I have to say, John Boyega's Jake Pentecost is one of the most convincing "son of the guy from the last one" characters I've ever seen.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:35 AM on October 6, 2017 [18 favorites]


Glad to see that Mako Mori is back, in whatever capacity. Agree about Boyega's suitability. And the kicksplode seems strong in this one.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:37 AM on October 6, 2017 [5 favorites]


If loving Pacific Rim is wrong, I do not want to be right. MORE BREAD! MORE CIRCUSES! It's the best stupidest nonsense ever.
posted by soren_lorensen at 11:37 AM on October 6, 2017 [31 favorites]


I stand corrected. But wow, totally missed that. Should've known that if anyone gets the 'badass walking in slo-mo' treatment, it's Mako.
posted by KHAAAN! at 11:37 AM on October 6, 2017 [7 favorites]


What I loved most about the first film is that it was the best kind of turn off your brain and just enjoy giant monsters and robots. This seems to be more of the same and I'm totally on board with it.
posted by Fizz at 11:39 AM on October 6, 2017 [4 favorites]


Way too clean. It's like "now that's pod-racing!" clean.
posted by Groundhog Week at 11:39 AM on October 6, 2017 [5 favorites]


PUNCH THOSE STUPID MONSTERS RIGHT IN THEIR STUPID MONSTER FACES!
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 11:44 AM on October 6, 2017 [8 favorites]


What I loved most about the first film is that it was the best kind of turn off your brain and just enjoy giant monsters and robots.

With a strong subtext of "only a diverse team coming together and coordinating on a well-researched plan can save the world, not giant walls" that, IMO, has only given it stronger currency in the modern era.

Putting "Uprising" in the title and showing off what look like Mass Production Jaegers and Jaeger-vs-Jaeger combat has me thinking this sequel might just double down on that idea. My personal speculation is that the crisis in this new movie will be at least instigated if not outright caused by the Shadowy Council Guys behind the "Wall of Life" project.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:46 AM on October 6, 2017 [11 favorites]


Any sign of Sasha and Aleksis?


What are you talking about? They clearly escaped before the explosion. You don't remember that scene?
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 11:52 AM on October 6, 2017 [28 favorites]


Looks bad, Todd.
posted by jpolchlopek at 11:53 AM on October 6, 2017


There's a lot of (awesomely) silly things about Pacific Rim but I want to meet the writer or producer that came up with the whole two people moving in perfect unison to run a jaeger trope and slap them repeatedly with a large fish because it's infuriatingly ridiculous and unpossible.

Yeah, yeah, they handwave this away with some weird psychic link between the pilots in a world that is otherwise non-magical, and it's weak sauce. I mean, if you've got that kind of magical psychic powers that can be measured and quantified with all this awesome high energy technology, but you can't use it to talk to the kaiju or weaponize it? You can't build an amplifier so that one person can run a jaeger?

So, we have this world where they've been constantly at war with giant monsters in what is effectively hand to hand combat in giant robot suits, so we can presume that a history of some kind of martial arts and combat systems is a thing.

There isn't a known or invented martial art in the known universe that doesn't eventually teach that movement is difficult, chaotic, messy and doesn't always go as planned, and that even with careful choreography and planning it's almost impossible for two people to move in total synchronicity. Now to do this with a live attacker, and react - unplanned - in sync? Move for move? Are you fucking kidding me?

No, seriously, who the hell came up with this crap? Do they have a seething, sucking black hole of idiocy where their head is supposed to be? Do they live in a world where they wear pants as shirts? Do they eat with their butt and poop from their mouths? Do they sneeze with their genitals?

Somewhere, some smug jackass with money and bad ideas and surrounded by yesbeasts hammered and wedged this garbage idea into the film like a rusty railroad spike in an otherwise fine (if silly) birthday cake, and no one stopped them.

That's the real monster of Pacific Rim. It's not the kaiju. It's that stupid plot device.
posted by loquacious at 11:56 AM on October 6, 2017 [7 favorites]


I am WAY more pumped about this than I am Blade Runner 2049. Partially because, if it's anything like the last film, it'll be a lot friendlier towards women and minorities.
posted by WidgetAlley at 11:56 AM on October 6, 2017 [9 favorites]


> What I loved most about the first film is that it was the best kind of turn off your brain and just enjoy giant monsters and robots.

My wife and I watched the first one on Netflix when she declared that she wanted to watch "something dumb" to take her mind off PhD-related stress. Well, that's what she got all right.
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:57 AM on October 6, 2017 [4 favorites]


GIANT SMASHY ROBOTS YAAAAAAAY

look, I'm a simple man.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:59 AM on October 6, 2017 [15 favorites]


Loquacious, why so serious ?
posted by Pendragon at 12:00 PM on October 6, 2017 [3 favorites]


I had an open invitation to any of my friends who wanted to see Pacific Rim that I would go see it with anyone at any time. That will probably stand for the sequel, though I don't know if I have as high of hopes.

Also, glad they followed the Auralnauts Blockbuster trailer formula pretty well. ALL THE VFX
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 12:04 PM on October 6, 2017 [2 favorites]


IM EXCITE
posted by poffin boffin at 12:05 PM on October 6, 2017 [7 favorites]


My wife and I watched the first one on Netflix when she declared that she wanted to watch "something dumb" to take her mind off PhD-related stress.

I don't get to go to movies much now that I have a kid and I basically reserve my like two movie-going experiences a year just for "EXPLODEY SMASHY EYE CANDY WOOOOO AND ALSO STAR WARS" because just getting out of the house away from a non-stop-talking five-year-old for 2 hours and sitting in front of a giant glowing screen guarantees that my brain is already in the fully stowed and upright position. If it requires me to think, it is a waste of my precious precious 120 minutes of relaxation.

And yes, I did see Pacific Rim in the theater, and as far as I can tell it was genetically engineered in a lab to meet my entertainment needs.
posted by soren_lorensen at 12:07 PM on October 6, 2017 [16 favorites]


loquacious,


Repeat to yourself: "It's just a show, I should really just relax."
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:08 PM on October 6, 2017 [6 favorites]


Loquacious, admit it, you want one of those jaegers all to yourself, don't you?

can't say I blame you
posted by KHAAAN! at 12:13 PM on October 6, 2017 [7 favorites]


The idea of the Drift is absolutely essential to Pacific Rim's core themes. Without the Drift, it's just Bayformers with people inside the robots.
posted by tobascodagama at 12:15 PM on October 6, 2017 [14 favorites]


If they decided to put Pacific Rim back in theaters for a week or so right before PR2: Uprising comes out, I would totally double feature that.
posted by Groundhog Week at 12:15 PM on October 6, 2017 [16 favorites]


Seriously, the Drift is a significant part of what makes Pacific Rim great. I love it not only because it's the opportunity for those fantastic flashbacks to wee baby Mako and the glimpses we get of the Becket childhoods, but fits so, so, so well into the movie's overall pushback against the idea that heroism is a single lone awesome person who can undertake the entire fight himself -- on a meta level, Pacific Rim is pushing back against the vein of superhero movies where it's ONE MAN who MAKES A DIFFERENCE and CHANGES THE TIDE.

No, motherfucker, you're going to need Raleigh Becket to supply the optimism, and Mako Mori to supply the chainsword, and Stacker Pentecost to lead them all.

If you can suspend disbelief for Nolan's vision of Batman, but not joyful elbow rockets, you might ask yourself why.

(Still don't give a shit about Newt Gesizler, tho. Go away, Charlie Day, you dog-whistling racist jackass.)
posted by joyceanmachine at 12:27 PM on October 6, 2017 [36 favorites]


For anyone who wants to satisfy that Kaiju itch, this is a very nice collection of short stories: Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters.
posted by Fizz at 12:30 PM on October 6, 2017 [2 favorites]


loquacious: It's a metaphor. it's visual rhetoric arguing that people working together as part of a team are vastly more powerful than people trying to go it alone. It is beautiful and wonderful and persuasive.

like you know what the most powerful devices in the universe of Pacific Rim run on? They run on mutual empathy. They run on camaraderie. The folks who win the most fights are the folks who best understand and respect each other. Like, holy shit!

I need this movie. We all need this movie.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 12:31 PM on October 6, 2017 [53 favorites]


YEEEEAAAAHHHH!!!!!!

That's how you make giant robots look giant - keep the horizon line low. Harryhausen showed us how, but Michael Bay never figured it out (I mean, that's far from his only problem, but...).
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 12:31 PM on October 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


charlie day's voice is way too shrill and horrible to be forced upon humanity with the power of imax speakers, it's my sole complaint about the movie(s).
posted by poffin boffin at 12:33 PM on October 6, 2017 [2 favorites]


I love Guillermo del Toro films but Pacific Rim didn't do much for me. Possibly it was because the generic white guy in the lead but I don't know. And del Toro isn't even directing this one so I'll probably pass.
posted by octothorpe at 12:33 PM on October 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


Also: SQUEEEEEEEEEEE
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 12:36 PM on October 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


There's a lot of (awesomely) silly things about Pacific Rim but I want to meet the writer or producer that came up with the whole two people moving in perfect unison to run a jaeger trope and slap them repeatedly with a large fish because it's infuriatingly ridiculous and unpossible.

HI! I'D LIKE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO THE SQUARE-CUBE LAW!!!

Seriously, the drift is really a minor, tiny impossible thing; once you get past the fundamental impossibility of giant robots, everything else is gravy. You might as well have psychically-linked pilots as anything else.

Now if it turns out we defeat the monsters with the power of love, well, that's silly.
posted by happyroach at 12:40 PM on October 6, 2017 [7 favorites]


nah we defeat the monsters with love and giant rockets and chainswords and splody-kicks.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 12:46 PM on October 6, 2017 [11 favorites]


It subverts the Hero's Journey in a bunch of other ways, too. Like, Raleigh's refusal of the call is motivated by the death of his older brother mentor, where often the death of the mentor or family member is used to motivate the Hero into answering the call.

Getting back on track requires healing from his emotional trauma, which he first tries to do by giving up his place in the spotlight to become just another anonymous welder on the Wall of Life. But he ultimately finds that the healing can only come from learning to put his trust in another person again.

At which point, the movie switches narrative perspective and suddenly Mako is in the Hero role, having to fight to be recognised and make her own way out from under the shadow of her Mentor/Father. She proves that she's worthy, and Stacker learns that he needs to trust her to become her own person instead of sheltering her from the world. Meanwhile, the background cocky white kid eats some humble pie in an echo of Raleigh's arc from the first act.

Only when all of these people overcome their baggage can the final plan fall into place. Mako has to believe in her capabilities, Raleigh has to let another person into the Drift with him again, Stacker has to accept that Mako can live and excel without him, and Chuck has to learn that wars are won by teamwork and sacrifice rather than individual skill and heroism.

Like all good stories, PR succeeds both on the surface level (it's definitely a cool visual spectacle about robots punching aliens) and a deeper emotional one.
posted by tobascodagama at 12:49 PM on October 6, 2017 [30 favorites]


(Still don't give a shit about Newt Gesizler, tho. Go away, Charlie Day, you dog-whistling racist jackass.)

I'll admit that I really only know Charlie Day from his supporting movie roles (and also that I have never watched It's Always Sunny, which I am given to understand is a bit crass in its humor), but my search-fu is failing me as to the specific or general racist jackassery to which you are referring. Do you have a link?
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:53 PM on October 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


Been waiting for the original to come up on Netflix but it has refused to do so. This trailer did look pretty clean and Michael Bay-esque, but I really need to see the original pronto.
posted by Existential Dread at 12:57 PM on October 6, 2017


Is that horrorsaurus, a la Dr. McNinja!?!?!
posted by notsnot at 1:05 PM on October 6, 2017 [3 favorites]


Been waiting for the original to come up on Netflix but it has refused to do so.

It's rentable on Amazon for $4. I believe Google Play has it rentable as well, possibly for less money, but I can't actually check on account of owning it.
posted by tobascodagama at 1:15 PM on October 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


Yeah, yeah, they handwave this away with some weird psychic link between the pilots in a world that is otherwise non-magical, and it's weak sauce. I mean, if you've got that kind of magical psychic powers that can be measured and quantified with all this awesome high energy technology, but you can't use it to talk to the kaiju or weaponize it?

It's not a psychic power, it's a direct neurological connection between the two pilots, which is also how they coordinate their movements and such. And, honestly, given the number of scientific ass-pulls in the movie--ignoring the square-cube law, not being able to simply nuke the kaiju because Reasons, interdimensional rift, etc.--it's one of the less-unbelievable things in the movie. Really, for this series, you have to not so much suspend disbelief as take disbelief into a comfortably furnished room with a TV and games console and an attached bathroom and lots of tasty snacks in the fridge, get it all settled comfortably, quietly back out of the room, and even more quietly throw about a dozen deadbolts on the outside of the door before you go to watch it.
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:23 PM on October 6, 2017 [11 favorites]


WE HAVE NOT YET CANCELED THE APOCOLYPSE

You have to remember to “empty recycling” after you’ve deleted any given apocalypse, or the next user can just drag it back to the desktop.
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:50 PM on October 6, 2017 [22 favorites]


I still think Colossal is the best modern monster movie
posted by mbo at 1:52 PM on October 6, 2017 [4 favorites]


These movies could be marketed as antidepressants.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 1:53 PM on October 6, 2017 [12 favorites]


Man. Somehow, I never even saw the first one. Assumed it had something to do with geography and basketball. Boy was I ever wrong!
posted by Bob Regular at 1:57 PM on October 6, 2017 [4 favorites]


"Today we postpone the apocalypse indefinitely" would probably have been less effective. You have to allow him a certain amount of rhetorical license. He has to convince people to get in ludicrous weaponry and punch things, probably dying in the attempt.
posted by Grangousier at 2:04 PM on October 6, 2017 [5 favorites]


I'm rooting for the kaiju.
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:08 PM on October 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


The real kaiju were the friends we made along the way.
posted by tobascodagama at 2:14 PM on October 6, 2017 [18 favorites]


"Today we postpone the apocalypse until tomorrow"
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 2:15 PM on October 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


I am a huge PacRim fan (I highly recommend Guillermo's commentary track), but I'm really feeling the loss of Kate Hawley and GdT's eye for design this time around. :/
posted by Wossname at 2:21 PM on October 6, 2017 [7 favorites]


It feels like a commercial for Hot Wheels from the 1970s.
posted by craniac at 2:28 PM on October 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


WE NEED TO RE-SCHEDULE THE APOCALYPSE!

WHAT IS YOUR AVAILABILITY LIKE IN 2018?
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 2:33 PM on October 6, 2017 [18 favorites]


Hey! Sorry, I just realized I doublebooked the Apocalypse. Rain check?
posted by Existential Dread at 2:38 PM on October 6, 2017 [4 favorites]


At no point does a jaeger pick up a container ship and use it like a baseball bat and the focus on the weapons coming out of the jaeger hands makes me fear that this will not appear in the completed movie either.
posted by Vortisaur at 2:41 PM on October 6, 2017 [3 favorites]


came up with the whole two people moving in perfect unison

If you added more people needed as controllers, you could blur the line between jaeger pilots and line dancers. I smell crossover appeal!
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:43 PM on October 6, 2017 [3 favorites]


If you added more people needed as controllers, you could blur the line between jaeger pilots and line dancers. I smell crossover appeal!

ugh, I just had a vision of a terribly corny Thriller video remake
posted by Existential Dread at 2:47 PM on October 6, 2017 [2 favorites]


I bet they're saving the Riverdance Jaegers for the third movie.
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:48 PM on October 6, 2017 [4 favorites]


Rocket punch? Is there a Rocket Punch?!
posted by parki at 3:03 PM on October 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


I saw a comment where someone was lamenting that "Charlie" wasn't in the sequel and I was really confused because I clearly saw Charlie Day right there in the trailer.

Then I remembered Charlie Hunnam existed. And was in the first movie.
posted by thecjm at 3:06 PM on October 6, 2017


My biggest complaint about the first movie is that all of the action scenes happened in the dark at night.

They've clearly taken that critique into consideration for this one - everything is happening the bright daylight.

And now it looks like a Transformers movie.
posted by thecjm at 3:07 PM on October 6, 2017 [2 favorites]


There's a lot of (awesomely) silly things about Pacific Rim but I want to meet the writer or producer that came up with the whole two people moving in perfect unison to run a jaeger trope and slap them repeatedly with a large fish because it's infuriatingly ridiculous and unpossible.

It's not a hammy, unrealistic plot device - it's one of the core themes of the movie.

Del Toro was juggling three themes in the first movie - 1) giant robots and giant monsters are awesome, 2) an anti-anti-immigration narrative (diversity is stronger than walls) and 3) the greatest strength is working together. It's impossible for one person/superhero/jedi/whatever to do it alone. Superheroes are egotistical by design and the pilots in Pacific Rim have to literally release their ego and work in harmony with their partner.
posted by thecjm at 3:16 PM on October 6, 2017 [16 favorites]


Things I'm excited about: 1) Boyega looks clean as hell. I haven't had a part since I was 13, but I might have to do it again just because it looked so good on him. 2) And yet. Even still. MORE PAC. That was pac right? They didn't Nas-Your Old Droog me, did they?
posted by cashman at 3:19 PM on October 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


The humanoid design for all the Jaegar's seen in the trailer now reminds me a bit of G Gundam.

To elaborate, the designs seem less weird and more standardized this time around. I guess they could explain it away as designs just converging because of best design evolution and standardization of Jaegar parts for easier manufacturing, but I kind of miss Cherno Alpha's big cooling tower head and multi-armed Crimson Typhoon.

I can totally imagine some eccentric Jaegar pilots that feel more "natural" fighting with bird legs, binocular eyes, etc.. Like, why hold a whip when you can have tentacle arms?
posted by FJT at 3:26 PM on October 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


Apparently it was Pac, slowed down. I'll be hearing new-to-me Pac "until the end of time", I guess.
posted by cashman at 3:34 PM on October 6, 2017


Rain check?

Sigh. Rain of Fire check?
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:36 PM on October 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


I'm looking forward to this, but this time I was really hoping for a non-human Jaegar with a couple of cats or dogs in it.
posted by homunculus at 3:49 PM on October 6, 2017 [9 favorites]


Wait, are the humans in the robots fighting each other? WTF humanity?
posted by homunculus at 3:49 PM on October 6, 2017


One looked like a gorilla.
posted by mephron at 3:50 PM on October 6, 2017


There is a glimpse of a three-pilot Jaeger in the trailer, but I'm not sure which one it is. Maybe the flail Jaeger, since it seems a bit bulkier than the rest? The third guy could be controlling the flail, just like the third triplet in Crimson Typhoon was controlling the extra arm. That's exactly the level of bonkers that could work in a story like this.

Also, somebody on reddit grabbed an interesting close-up of those blue-and-white Jaegers firing rockets at a building...
posted by tobascodagama at 3:54 PM on October 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


Also, somebody on reddit grabbed an interesting close-up of those blue-and-white Jaegers firing rockets at a building...

Seems consistent with the "evolving" comment that was in the trailer somewhere.
posted by Existential Dread at 4:04 PM on October 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


There is a glimpse of a three-pilot Jaeger in the trailer, but I'm not sure which one it is.

From EW
: Titan Redeemer: “She is a mystery rogue Jaeger, but is really strong and advanced,” Boyega says. “She has guns on the chest. That Jaeger is, in fact, a three-man rig — one is in the cockpit shooting missiles and bullets from the chest.”

I will watch the hell out of this, and again and again if it has similar psychological and subversive themes as the first did.
posted by vers at 4:38 PM on October 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


I'm looking forward to this, but this time I was really hoping for a non-human Jaegar with a couple of cats or dogs in it.

Oh. Em. Gee.

Imagine a swarm of mini-Jaegers piloted by hummingbirds. AHHHHHHHH FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU HOW DARE YOU EXIST IN MY SPACE COMING TO GET YOU AHHHHH MOVING AT ALMOST HYPERSONIC SPEEDS FUCK YOU COMING TO GET YOU AHHHHHH

(y'all have met hummingbirds, yes?)

Also I kinda want us to Jaeger-up the hippos and see what they'd do.
posted by Lexica at 4:48 PM on October 6, 2017 [10 favorites]


I was worried this wouldn't be anything as gloriously silly as rocket punching and oil tanker clubs. But then I saw the giant ball and chain and THEN I read that it's a "seismic morningstar" and my hype levels returned to happily off the charts.
posted by straight at 4:49 PM on October 6, 2017 [4 favorites]


I saw no rocket punches. Rocket punches are the best punches :(
I do like inspirational speech John Boyega though.
posted by threecheesetrees at 5:10 PM on October 6, 2017


I love the first one completely and unashamedly, and I can, have, and will watch it any time I happen to come across it. ROU_Xenophobe and I sing the title theme hook at each other on a regular basis.

And I really, no shit, tear up every time I see terrified child Mako look up at noble Idris Elba for the first time, and see that hope and belief that everything might possibly be ok again spread across her face. (I, too, feel that way about Idris Elba.)

But this trailer...felt lacking (then again, I wasn't too impressed by the trailer for the first one either).

(also ROCKET PUNCH)
posted by biscotti at 6:43 PM on October 6, 2017 [4 favorites]


The color palette seems really candy apple shiny and bright in this one. I agree it looks more like Transformers, which I loathe. I want the gritty back. And the music in that trailer .... ugh terrible. ROBOTS GONNA GIT IT AWN! YEAH BOYEEE!
posted by freecellwizard at 7:04 PM on October 6, 2017 [3 favorites]


How do you have five similar robots be faced with a giant monster and NOT have those robots combine into one mega-robot?
posted by VTX at 7:38 PM on October 6, 2017 [10 favorites]


To my mind nobody does guilty pleasure movies like del Toro. Blade II was probably my first del Toro guilty pleasure, so ridiculous at times but so much fun, and then Hellboy came along, and I was 100% on board, especially for Hellboy II where del Toro somehow managed to combine all this ridiculous fun with a sad ethereal beauty that would have fit right into any of his more artsy films. And then Pacific Rim was it for a while, and I was fully on board the jaeger kaiju train, and then Crimson Peak and I was absolutely there for every delicious second of that gorgeous movie, if you catch me on the right day I might tell you it's my perfect favorite movie, even though my perfect favorite movie is actually a tie between The Third Man and Night of the Hunter.

And now this! Except it's not by del Toro so... huh. I'll see it anyway of course because I'm not all that picky when it comes to giant robots punching kaiju in their slimy faces, but man I sure wish del Toro were on board.

Have I mentioned how excited I am for The Shape of Water? Sixty-two days!
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 7:41 PM on October 6, 2017 [5 favorites]


"We are all jaegers inside of which scared children live. You can overcome the pain and kill the monsters. We can vanquish the impossible if we learn to trust again." - GDT
posted by colorblock sock at 8:32 PM on October 6, 2017 [8 favorites]


Am I the only one who noticed Vince Staples music in the trailer?!?

Pacific Rim is so "Guillermo del Toro". Dark lighting, rich red and blue saturated shots. This one looks much "cleaner" but I'm glad to see the creature and Jaeger design is still in-line with Pacific Ream.
posted by JoeBlubaugh at 9:11 PM on October 6, 2017


I am disappointed by noticeable lack of container ships being picked up and used as makeshift clubs in battle. I may have to start a petition to ensure that there is such a scene in this movie.

Now if it turns out we defeat the monsters with the power of love, well, that's silly.

The Power of Love has been established as the key element in solving time travel paradoxes that would otherwise erase your existence (interestingly, punching is also involved in the McFly Resolution but I think that is the end of the similarities), so I think Pacific Rim will stick with the idea of punching things. Preferably with rocket punches. Or possibly ships.
posted by nubs at 9:41 PM on October 6, 2017 [3 favorites]


Hmmmm. I really liked Pacific Rim, and while it wasn't a perfect film, it was orders of magnitude smarter than any "stupid" blockbuster out there. I know that a trailer can be cut to be any kind of movie (different from the final film), but this looks a lot more like Transformers/Bay/hacky/stupid than the original. Then I saw that del Toro didn't direct, some TV director coming up to bat in the majors...I am not optimistic.
posted by zardoz at 10:23 PM on October 6, 2017 [2 favorites]


but this time I was really hoping for a non-human Jaegar with a couple of cats or dogs in it.

Somewhere I still have notes written after waking up from a dream about a Jaeger named "Tiger Semaphore" piloted by the two gray tabby littermate sisters I had at the time.

====================

How do you have five similar robots be faced with a giant monster and NOT have those robots combine into one mega-robot?

Maybe that's the secret big reveal they're deliberately keeping out of the trailers?
posted by radwolf76 at 4:52 AM on October 7, 2017 [6 favorites]


It turns out that the Kaiju were inside us all along!
posted by blue_beetle at 6:41 AM on October 7, 2017 [3 favorites]


How do you have five similar robots be faced with a giant monster and NOT have those robots combine into one mega-robot?

Netflix's Voltron has you covered friend. It is a lot of fun. Has a fun Legend of Korra energy to it.
posted by Fizz at 7:03 AM on October 7, 2017 [2 favorites]


Watching this trailer makes me wish we could solve all of 2017's problems by beating the hell out of them with giant robots.
posted by Foosnark at 9:33 AM on October 7, 2017 [8 favorites]


It turns out that the Kaiju were inside us all along!

The real kaiju were the friends we made along the way?
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:10 AM on October 7, 2017 [4 favorites]


I am disappointed by noticeable lack of container ships being picked up and used as makeshift clubs in battle. I may have to start a petition to ensure that there is such a scene in this movie.

Yeah, seriously. Total SQUEEE! at OMG, they're using a container ship as a baseball bat! ( Baseball Furies 4 Ever! )
posted by mikelieman at 12:38 PM on October 7, 2017


I grew up watching Mazinger and Ultraman (and all his siblings) and this trailer, as well as the first movie, is pushing all my buttons.

> “She has guns on the chest. That Jaeger is, in fact, a three-man rig — one is in the cockpit shooting missiles and bullets from the chest.”

Heh - shoutout to Venus A from Great Mazinger?
posted by needled at 6:33 PM on October 7, 2017


Per the request above, Charlie Day is racist because:

1. 98% of it is because the humor on It's Always Sunny is more than crass on racial issues. They had both yellowface and blackface. Charlie Day is not just the main actor. He's also an executive producer and a writer, and fucking owns that nastiness.

2. And for the last 2%, there's this. Does he straight-up call Rinko Kikuchi a racial slur? No. But the combo of """that Asian girl"""" and assuming that she isn't fluent in English because she has a strong accent is, uh, not subtle in any way. Also, Rinko is awesome, fuck him.
posted by joyceanmachine at 7:15 PM on October 7, 2017 [3 favorites]


I reject utterly the assertion that drift-compatibility is an error in judgement and counter-assert that it is in fact a JOY FOREVER, a DELIGHT, and the greatest thing to ever happen to fanfic.
posted by pseudonymph at 2:54 AM on October 8, 2017 [5 favorites]


I don’t see as much Transformers in the design of this as much as I see the Wachowskis’ Speed Racer. I love the color palette and design shown in the trailer. Not enough movies seem to be daring enough to be bright and colorful.

Transformers isn’t gritty like Pacific Rim, but it’s not colorful, it has the same look as most of Michael Bay’s movies and I actually think it looks a lot like Armageddon in whatever color correction or filtering was used. There are a lot of similar shots between Armageddon (especially the lunar vehicle jump when they’re on the asteroid), and Transformers as well. (Now that I think about it the initial meteor strike on NYC when there’s a shot of the guy bent over protecting his dog while the meteor hits is replicated in a lot of Transformers.) Likewise, Bay uses A LOT of quick editing shots, where the action is cut up and jumping around so many times. This looks to have longer, more meandering shots in order to show the heft and bulk of the robots (much like the first), but also to show off a bit of their agility. Lastly, it hopefully keeps the sense of scale the first one had, in which the robots and monsters actually felt HUGE, which I personally never thought Transformers accomplished due to the close-up shots of gears and parts moving around every time they transformed.

I agree that it reminds me a bit of Gundam, versus the previous one reminding me of Evangelion.

And also I fucking want there to be a perfect Neon Genesis Evangelion live-action film so badly. Like, in a world where SOMEHOW it’s done absolutely perfectly. Maybe since Anno did Shin Godzilla (which definitely has so many similar shots as NGE) that could happen.
posted by gucci mane at 8:54 AM on October 8, 2017 [2 favorites]


tbh I'm not sure Pacific Rim films need any actors. I love Idris but I didn't go and see the first one because Idris was in it.
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:02 PM on October 8, 2017 [2 favorites]


Also Striker Eureka is the best jaeger k thnx bye
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:05 PM on October 8, 2017


But then I saw the giant ball and chain and THEN I read that it's a "seismic morningstar"

*adjusts trilby* uhhh see technically that's a flail
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:21 PM on October 8, 2017 [4 favorites]


The only thing about Pacific Rim that's bullshit is the end. Yes, it is in character for Raleigh to want to sacrifice himself to save his partner because he already lost one partner. But dramatically it's so much more effective for Raleigh to be the viewpoint character and think Mako Mori didn't make it because he already lost one partner. Plus we've already seen that Mako knows about the SWORD and other details Raleigh's not as familiar with, so it makes more sense that she could surprise him with the "eject your partner" button. Plus, on a meta level, how amazing would it have been to see the girl push the boy to safety and (almost) sacrifice herself? The ending could have been so fantastic instead of meh.
posted by straight at 7:53 AM on October 9, 2017 [9 favorites]


They really missed a step by not making it TOHO-style, as this fan did for the first trailer.

Pacific Rim (Fan-Made Trailer) in TOHO Godzilla style

Ifukube music makes EVERYTHING better.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 4:41 PM on October 10, 2017


Plus, on a meta level, how amazing would it have been to see the girl push the boy to safety and (almost) sacrifice herself? The ending could have been so fantastic instead of meh.

On a meta level, female characters are sacrificed or nearly-sacrificed all the time for white dude development. Think about every tragic movie or TV mom, who dies saving her children. Think about every girlfriend who puts herself into danger or is called on to sacrifice her career to ~~~ save her man.

And yeah, I initially had the same reaction as you to the ending, because I love Mako and I want to see her triumphant. But on reconsideration, particularly consideration of Mako not just as a lady character, but specifically a lady character of color who is not just played by an actress of color, but is unapologetically presented in the text as being non-white and non-Western, a category of character typically not put into the role of being important enough for the white dude to willingly give his life to save -- yeah, no, I love it.

Especially because it's a much better culmination of Mako's actual arc. I mean, the bit with all her badassery in the Kwoon and subsequently cutting Otachi in half is fucking awesome. And like, she is clearly desperate in most of the movie to get into a Jaeger. Therefore, it's tempting to read her arc as "kill all the kaiju and get revenge for your childhood trauma."

However, the movie specifically and explicitly pushes back on that in several ways. I mean, there's that entire scene where she is yelling at her father figure. In his own ops! In front of subordinates! Snarling about how she NEEDS to get in the Jaeger and MURDER SOME KAIJU! And then he tells her that revenge isn't a good reason to do things. Instead, I think Mako's arc in the movie is more correctly read as the parallel to Raleigh learning that he can make a difference and save his partner -- she doesn't have to do it all herself. She can let herself be vulnerable. Stacker shouldn't be the only person she loves and respects and trusts to help her when she has done all she can.

tl;dr: we don't assume that Tony Stark's narrative is less fulfilled or interesting because, at the end of the first Iron Man movie, it's Pepper Potts who hits the self-destruct button on the arc reactor that takes out Obadiah Stane. Are we going to apply a friendlier standard to Tony Stark's narrative than Mako Mori's?

tl;tl;dr: I've spent a lot of time over the past four years thinking about Mako Mori and Pacific Rim.
posted by joyceanmachine at 8:48 AM on October 11, 2017 [6 favorites]


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