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Revisiting del Toro's 'Pacific Rim'

| March 23, 2018 1:00 AM

Hot off winning Best Picture and Director at this year’s Oscars for “The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro will see a sequel to one of his most divisive films hit theaters this weekend.

“Pacific Rim Uprising” is the follow-up to del Toro’s 2013 giant monsters versus giant robots adventure, “Pacific Rim.” Though originally planning to helm the sequel, del Toro returns as just a producer on the new film. Only a few of the original actors return, including Rinko Kikuchi and Charlie Day, with “Star Wars” actor John Boyega taking top billing for “Uprising.”

“Pacific Rim” definitely belongs in del Toro’s pulp, B-movie bin, alongside “Blade II” and his two “Hellboy” films. It isn’t trying to impress critics and awards groups like “Shape of Water” or “Pan’s Labyrinth,” but it still managed to secure decent reviews (71 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, 64 percent on Metacritic). I didn’t officially review the movie back in 2013 but remember it as a perfectly entertaining blockbuster with the added bonus of del Toro’s dynamic creature design.

The movie struggled at the box office in the United States, making less than its production budget. The humdrum response immediately slashed del Toro’s hopes for a franchise … until the movie made an additional $300 million overseas.

After several fits and starts, “Uprising” finally arrives this weekend. It looks fun enough, and at the bare minimum should be more coherent than the average “Transformers” sequel. Still, it will probably be overshadowed by “Black Panther,” just like every other movie since February.

In all the coverage surrounding “Shape of Water,” it was interesting to see many regard “Pacific Rim” as one of del Toro’s lesser efforts. I’m more inclined to like the movies of his that don’t aim for broad appeal (if any really do — “Shape of Water” is still a movie about a woman and a fish man falling in love). “Pacific Rim,” on the surface, seems like a wide appeal-type of movie, but del Toro’s sensibility with the material definitely strikes a tone that can seem outdated, especially compared to the jokey, hyper-violent, sensory assault of the “Transformers” movies. How those movies make money is a mystery that could go unsolved for decades.

“Pacific Rim” is a goofy premise taken seriously — there are no winks or nods to the audience acknowledging its own ridiculousness, though that doesn’t mean the movie is humorless. Charlie Day’s scientist and Ron Perlman as a bizarre alien organ dealer/human cartoon provide plenty of over-the-top energy in their supporting roles.

But everything else hinges on melodrama — most notably regarding Idris Elba as the commanding officer of the movie’s Jaeger (giant robot) program. His “cancelling the apocalypse” speech played on repeat throughout the film’s marketing push.

That earnest approach makes sense for del Toro, someone with a deep and vast appreciation for movie monsters and the countless “Godzilla”-like content produced over the years. “Pacific Rim,” not surprisingly, also boasts some pretty cool monsters — beasts that resemble some of our favorites but with interesting tweaks and embellishments here and there.

Five years later, “Pacific Rim” still delivers on its toy-mashing premise, despite featuring only a few centerpiece action scenes. It seems likely del Toro had budget restrictions, as many of the fights in the movie take place in rain and at night in order to better cover its abundant use of CGI. Marketing for “Uprising” has conspicuously focused on beast vs. bot action occurring in broad daylight. After five years, the CGI has obviously improved, or at least gotten cheaper to produce.

Much of the bad reputation for “Pacific Rim” probably stems from the lead performance by Charlie Hunnam, who appears wooden and uncomfortable in the role (it’s been a problem for Hunnam onscreen in general, outside of last year’s “Lost City of Z”). The other Jaeger pilots don’t bring much either, and everyone is swallowed by Elba’s sustained intensity.

As someone who didn’t love “The Shape of Water” as much as I was apparently supposed to, it’s nice to return to del Toro’s “lesser” work to just appreciate the consistency of his filmography. Seeing the movie love he brings to “Pacific Rim,” as well as to his underrated gothic romance “Crimson Peak” from 2015, only emphasizes how much of that same love of the past he injects into “Shape of Water.” I’m happy he’s a double Oscar winner, and to me his Oscars represent his entire body of impressive genre work.

As for “Uprising,” I’m hoping new director Steven S. DeKnight can at least have fun with the toolbox provided by del Toro. It can’t be worse than anything Michael Bay has given us in the last decade.

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Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com