Guillermo del Toro, who won the Oscar for best picture for "The Shape of Water," launched the sci-fi action blockbuster "Pacific Rim" five years ago. Although the film did not achieve commercial success in North America, it at least hit the otaku interest that "mecha films" should have. After five years, "Pacific Rim 2", directed by rookie director Stephen De Knight, obviously did not find the fate of the "otaku love letter". He tried his best to draw a line from Del Toro's style, but unfortunately Yes, the film eventually slipped into the abyss of Michael Bay's "Transformers" -- no matter how many horses it couldn't pull it. Although it's only been three months this year, Pacific Rim 2 can be without a doubt the loudest, dumbest, and least "movie" movie of the year.
Both are special effects films of big gang fights, "Pacific Rim" and "Transformers" have no similarities in essence, because the former is a mecha equipment controlled by humans, and the latter is a fake alien. This point was emphasized very clearly in the first part of "Pacific Rim", especially the tight linkage between humans and mechas, which fulfilled the fantasy of all otakus changing the world with hand-to-hand combat. It is worth noting that, compared with the flexibility of Transformers, the biggest feature of mecha equipment is that it moves slowly and is full of an indescribable cuteness. A and all kinds of suspense in the confrontation link. But this sequel turns the fancy mechs into the same slashing lords as Optimus Prime—faster, taller, stronger, and for the most part, just slashing the sand table with a big knife , and when the moment comes when the budget burns out, the movie is over.
It's a fiasco, and it's got everything a bad movie needs. Adult men and women seem to be running wildly on a treadmill, wearing tight elastic suits volleying to imitate boxing. Such a stupid picture is actually only suitable for young children in the era of "Dinosaur Express" and "Ultraman". The director filmed "Pacific Rim". The goal should have been to weaken and eliminate this stupidity as much as possible, to make the "man-machine" plot more imaginative, and at least not to make the actors too embarrassing. But the directors and writers were faced with rolling production budgets and an "international cast" that was not in one dimension at all, and everything got out of control.
The story of Pacific Rim 2 takes place ten years after the first. Jack, played by John Boyega, is the son of the leading man in the previous film. In order to pursue a more lucrative career, Jack gave up military service. His sister (the heroine of the previous film) calls him back. Jack, who rejoined the Pan-Pacific Defense Force, soon fought side by side with his teammate Lebent, and also met Amanla, a stubborn girl who suddenly appeared in the ruins. At this time, a Chinese company developed a new type of unmanned mecha corps, and the person in charge of the company was Jing Tian, who successfully implemented the "Daguai Trilogy" (previously "The Great Wall" and "King Kong: Skull Island"). . Compared with the first film, this film has more characters, but each character has not developed, and every disaster cannot affect people's hearts. Those people who are screaming and running on the streets of Tokyo and Australia, in terms of visual texture, even Not as good as "Independence Day" and "The Clash of Heaven" more than 20 years ago.
The film uses five screenwriters to write the script, but the question that the film brings to us is: the cooperation of the five screenwriters may not be to eliminate logical loopholes and establish a solid narrative structure, but just act as "inspiration porters" ——This is of course a polite statement. The fact is that they spared no effort to show their poor imagination on a story outline that was already vulnerable: first, the "photon force research" of Japanese cartoonist Nagai Hao "Magic God Z". After that, he created a brain-shaped creature resembling the "Lange" in "Ninja Turtles", and then copied and upgraded according to the monster image of "Titan Battle", and finally made the Tathagata palm that fell from the sky in "Kung Fu". It is mixed with Jackie Chan jumping over a volcano in "Zodiac". The problem is, monsters shouldn't die faster than the 1998 version of "Godzilla". Where are the "bugs" that run faster than the runaway car of "Fast and Furious 8"?
If it weren't for the high production cost of "Pacific Rim 2", which made the special effects scenes look more lively, it would not even be as entertaining and viewing as a classic magical film like "Sharknado". The actor's performance is even more unbearable - Jing Tian's role is the most important in the history of the soy sauce party, but its Chinese dialogue is like an intelligent voice system, which is out of place in this English film; the villain and the scientist's gags are also very important. It is difficult to form a point of laughter. In addition to the protagonists' lamenting about their lives, the literary drama and the martial arts drama are completely broken. As a result, the film has almost no reason to retain the audience. It is 20 minutes shorter than the first one, but who can notice it?
After "Pacific Rim 2", I believe Del Toro will also dislike this series of films, and the third film can be strangled in the cradle.
Originally published in "Litchi Sharp Review"
View more about Pacific Rim: Uprising reviews
