Pacific Rim: Uprising

[eabaker]

[jellydonut25]

[daikaijusaurus]

Well I finally saw this. Can't say how disappointed I am. I loved the first one, it took two elements that I really love (giant robots and monsters) into one awesome movie. It wasn't perfect, but the characters were great and the action was very stylish and fun.

Uprising was just flat, stupid and annoying. I didn't care for any of the characters, they were generic, boring and annoying, especially the little teenage brat. Man I couldn't stand her! I think it was a very bad decision to kill off Mako, especially so early into the movie. If they wanted to kill her off at least make her death more meaningful. Maybe she could've died a hero by killing the final Kaiju or something rather than just a helicopter crash.

And speaking of the Kaiju, they were very generic. In the first one, each Kaiju had their own style and personality. Here they were not cool at all, just big and ugly CGI mess.

Since this really bombed at the box office, I guess we won't be seeing any more PR in the future. Very sad, I was very much looking forward to a PR trilogy.

[lhb412]

[Benjamin Haines]

[lhb412]

^ I am also more down for the continuing adventures of The Rock and his gorilla buddy as opposed to more GDT-less Pacific Rim.

[jellydonut25]

This 'franchise' is dead. Uprising definitely was FLAT, and that's a REALLY good word to describe it. Everything about it was flat. The acting, the writing, the directing...the difference between a master director (like GDT) and another director is readily on display here.

As for Rampage 2? I dunno. I had more fun with Rampage than Uprising, but it might be a 'worse' movie. Fix the extreme tonal whiplash, and it'd be a lot more enjoyable. If a Rampage 2 could lean into the fun and camp a little more and abandon the uncomfortable 9/11 references, I'd be on board.

[klen7]

^ boo
Rampage was great.

[jellydonut25]

[klen7]

i must of missed what was blatantly 9/11. It seemed like standard destruction sequences common to any Transformers/Disaster Porn/Sci Fi epic that takes place in a city

[daikaijusaurus]

I was hoping for a Pacific Rim trilogy before I saw Uprising. Now that I saw what a piece of crap it is, I do not want any continuation of it whatsoever. Now if they decide in the future (very unlikely of course) to completely ignore Uprising and do a proper sequel that's just as good as the first, then I'd be down for a trilogy. Heck, I'm even okay with a cartoon series.

I haven't seen Rampage yet, but after hearing the positive feedback it's getting, I'm really looking forward to it. Considering that it made decent money, hopefully a sequel will be a possibility.

I'm just very sad that Uprising turned out the way it did. I was hoping for more original giant monster movies. Oh I'm extatic for the MonsterVerse and all, but it's also nice having something original rather than constant remakes and reboots. Hopefully the success of the MonsterVerse films will make that possible someday.

[lhb412]

Godzilla '98 is a much better film than Pacific Rim: Uprising, yet people still grouse about GINO and mere months after it's release we've all decided to forget about Uprising.

I mean, I'm fine with that, but it's something I've been chewing on.

[XvGojira]

[jellydonut25]

Godzilla 1998 is probably a BETTER film than Uprising...although...oof, not 100% sure (at least partially because I've only seen Uprising the one time so far). But I'll ALLOW it for the sake of an argument...

...because I think Uprising is much more entertaining. The middle of GINO is a joyless SLOG.

[lhb412]

^ Argument to be made, for sure. While the pacing is horrible in Godzilla '98 the directing is more assured. While the characters are more grating in in Godzilla '98, they're also more consistent. You can play that game through the whole list.

[klen7]

[lhb412]

^ I've actually tried to stop calling it GINO because, honestly, it's been 20 years and maybe we should let it go?

[XvGojira]

[jellydonut25]

[lhb412]

I suppose it does fit with other acronym titles like G2K and GMK.

[Psycho Soldier]

I tend to call it G98, which fits nicely with G54, G85 and G2014. As for whether it's better than PRU, I'll put it this way: PRU feels like a mediocre DTV movie, but G98 feels like an awful theatrical movie. I think that speaks to the differences in direction, musical score, visual FX, etc. as well as to my opinions of each film.

[lhb412]

^ Uprising sure does look cheap, doesn't it?

[Psycho Soldier]

Between the lighting, set design, costuming, CGI and (IIRC) claustrophobic camera work, I'm willing to admit as much.

[jellydonut25]

I remember thinking that from the moment we started seeing thing from this movie. I mean, we all knew it would be a cheaper movie than the first one...the budget on that was INSANE...but to see it, I was FLOORED by how cheap it looked. I definitely think this was one of those rare cases where I was really "happy" to have followed a movie heavily, even as every single piece of information and footage continued to look worse and worse, because by the time my showing came around, my expectations were FIRMLY in check and I was able to enjoy it more.

[tbeasley]

At least the robot/monster action in PRU is fun, even with less monster stuff compared to the first one. Can't say that for G98, which is irritatingly repetitive on top of its sorry depiction of the title character. Plus I would say, as much as you can fault the sequel in many areas, both Pac Rim films have a genuine appreciation for its anime and tokusatsu inspired roots. They 'get it' in ways G98 never did or wanted to.