Why Pacific Rim 2 flopped after 5 years of waiting

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Why Pacific Rim 2 flopped after 5 years of waiting

Pacific Rim 2: Uprising is a classic example of forced sequels that were programmed to fail. The film continued 2013’s Pacific Rim. In the first part, war veteran Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba) launched the Jaeger program when monster-like beings attack the earth, which are then fought by giant robots.

Streaming sci-fi hits: That’s what Pacific Rim 2 is all about

In the second part, a few years later, mankind has to realize that a new attack by the monsters is imminent. This time, it’s Stacker’s son, Jake Pentecost (John Boyega), who trains a new generation of Jaeger pilots, including his rival Nate Lambert (Scott Eastwood) and 15-year-old Amara (Cailee Spaeny).

Pacific Rim Uprising – Trailer 2 (German) HD

Poisoned Desire: Fans wanted the Pacific Rim sequel badly

Sometimes you have to watch the sequel to realize that maybe a sequel wasn’t such a good idea after all. At least not if the film at all costs and despite many warning signs is punched through. Pacific Rim 1 is one of the best monster action movies of recent years, and the sequel didn’t even come close to living up to the correspondingly high fan expectations placed in it.

That was particularly painful, since the fans of the first part had been fighting for the sequel for years and more or less shouted for it. When the sequel got the green light after a long delay, the euphoria was great. An at best average film met this enthusiasm. For a long time it was unclear whether the risky sequel should be implemented at all. And for good reason.

Pacific Rim 2 flop numbers

Even part 1 was not a resounding success. The lavish budget of 180 million US dollars compares with a gross of 411 million US dollars (Box Office Mojo). Pacific Rim’s true achievement lies in the loyal and euphoric fan base that has solidified around the film in a very short period of time. From an economic point of view, however, a continuation was always risky.

  • Pacific Rim 2’s budget has been reduced to $150 million.
  • Ultimately, the box office was a sobering 290 million US dollars, with which the film is only just in the black, if at all, when the marketing budget is added. (Box Office Mojo)

    • Now, money isn’t everything, and if the fans at least got the follow-up film that lives up to their expectations, we wouldn’t even have to talk about it, but…

    What went wrong with Pacific Rim 2?

    The audience ratings also plummeted:

  • Movie pilot rating Pacific Rim 1: 6.6
  • Movie pilot rating Pacific Rim 2: 5.4

    • The drop in quality is not really surprising. Guillermo del Toro directed Part 1, one of the most influential fantasy and sci-fi creators of our time

    . Del Toro brings a deep cinematic language and an ease to fill canvases with stories and images that would seem ridiculous or stale to other filmmakers.

    It’s no coincidence that people hesitated to shoot a new Hellboy movie without del Toro because his two movies set the bar so high. (The third Hellboy – Call of Darkness without del Toro directing unsurprisingly flopped in 2019)

    The hearts of Pacific Rim did not return

    Movies like Pacific Rim or also the new Godzilla and Kong releases always dance on a tightrope of good taste. They must balance and legitimize their infantile B-movie settings with heart, passion, and sane madness. In other words, making a film about giant robots beating monsters that have emerged from the sea has to be done with conviction and ingenuity. Unfortunately, Pacific Rim 2 lacks this conviction and depth.

    Pacific Rim: Uprising – IMAX Trailer (English) HD

    Pacific Rim 2 was directed by Steven S. DeKnight. The former Daredevil showrunner is a solid director whose résumé is filled with average to lousy genre spectacle (Spartacus, Jupiter’s Legacy). Directors like del Toro can do a lot with a little, directors like Steven S. DeKnight often can’t do a lot with a lot.

    Another point is the main cast: Charlie Hunnam and Idris Elba did not return and were replaced by Scott Eastwood and John Boyega. Sure, those are exciting faces, but the bottom line is that the sequel lacked the three core pieces of the predecessor.

    Under these conditions, it would probably have been better not to produce Pacific Rim 2 in the first place and wait for a better time. Now the fans have their longed-for sequel, but almost nobody is happy with it.

    a notice: We have already published this article on the occasion of a past TV broadcast of Pacific Rim 2 on RTL.

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    Were you satisfied with Pacific Rim 2?

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