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beansideJess and I went to see this one on Saturday. My initial impression was “Meh,” but as time has worn on, the more I’ve resented the two hours I gave it. Current feeling: thanks for shitting on just about everything that was awesome from the original movie.
Spoilers behind the cut.
1. They fridge Mako Mori. Not even heroically. She dies in a helicopter crash, just sitting there. She manages some nebulous plot point on her tablet before she dies, whoo. Jake, who would have been raised with her as his older sister, mourns for approximately three minutes before the movie gets on with the convoluted story.
2. Possessed/Evil Newt. The Precursors are seriously crappy at possession. Yet no one noticed this shit for 10 years? It took five minutes for him to fuck up pronouns with Hermann. And the cleaning crew didn’t report the big ass Kaiju brain just sitting in the apartment?
Also, Newt was a xenobiologist. Hermann was in theoretical physics or something like it? Now they’re both doing bioengineering and Newt’s branched into computer engineering? They turned them both into generic Scientists who can magically do whatever the plot needs. Ugh.
3. The nerds provide...well not much. Remember when the brains saved the day in movie #1. Yeah. Don’t expect that again. It’s all about the pilots and trainees.
4. Scott Eastwood is a literal charisma-vacuum. A Ken doll could have played his part. He was supposed to be the bitter ex-copilot, pissed at being saddled with his former friend and some snot nosed cadet who got in because she illegally built a small Jager. He managed lightly miffed once. Mostly though, he seemed to be walking through his scenes like he’d swallowed half a bottle of Valium. I cannot remember a single thing about his character.
5. The Drift. Remember when it was really hard to find someone who was drift compatible? And it was a big thing when you were? Like a goddamned soul bond? Yeah. Now pretty much everyone can drift with anyone. No big deal. People hop in and out of cockpits like all that’s needed is a warm body.
6. John Boyega was really the only redeeming thing about the movie, but it gave him a paper-thin character. More of a sketch. I never really felt his discomfort at being drawn back into this world.
7.Aside from him, I honestly cannot remember the name of one new character. I barely remember two of the Jager’s names. And the one... there was absolutely no reason to name one G*psy Avenger. We all bitched about the slur the first time. If you wanted to call back to the first movie, why not Danger something. Find a better way.
8. The visuals weren’t too bad, but there was no weight behind them. They wrecked cities, but they could just have well been tinker toys. They were well lit and not horribly interesting. Possibly because I didn’t care about the characters, possibly because it made everything...sterile and bland.
All in all, I want my two hours back. I also want to rewatch the original.
Spoilers behind the cut.
1. They fridge Mako Mori. Not even heroically. She dies in a helicopter crash, just sitting there. She manages some nebulous plot point on her tablet before she dies, whoo. Jake, who would have been raised with her as his older sister, mourns for approximately three minutes before the movie gets on with the convoluted story.
2. Possessed/Evil Newt. The Precursors are seriously crappy at possession. Yet no one noticed this shit for 10 years? It took five minutes for him to fuck up pronouns with Hermann. And the cleaning crew didn’t report the big ass Kaiju brain just sitting in the apartment?
Also, Newt was a xenobiologist. Hermann was in theoretical physics or something like it? Now they’re both doing bioengineering and Newt’s branched into computer engineering? They turned them both into generic Scientists who can magically do whatever the plot needs. Ugh.
3. The nerds provide...well not much. Remember when the brains saved the day in movie #1. Yeah. Don’t expect that again. It’s all about the pilots and trainees.
4. Scott Eastwood is a literal charisma-vacuum. A Ken doll could have played his part. He was supposed to be the bitter ex-copilot, pissed at being saddled with his former friend and some snot nosed cadet who got in because she illegally built a small Jager. He managed lightly miffed once. Mostly though, he seemed to be walking through his scenes like he’d swallowed half a bottle of Valium. I cannot remember a single thing about his character.
5. The Drift. Remember when it was really hard to find someone who was drift compatible? And it was a big thing when you were? Like a goddamned soul bond? Yeah. Now pretty much everyone can drift with anyone. No big deal. People hop in and out of cockpits like all that’s needed is a warm body.
6. John Boyega was really the only redeeming thing about the movie, but it gave him a paper-thin character. More of a sketch. I never really felt his discomfort at being drawn back into this world.
7.Aside from him, I honestly cannot remember the name of one new character. I barely remember two of the Jager’s names. And the one... there was absolutely no reason to name one G*psy Avenger. We all bitched about the slur the first time. If you wanted to call back to the first movie, why not Danger something. Find a better way.
8. The visuals weren’t too bad, but there was no weight behind them. They wrecked cities, but they could just have well been tinker toys. They were well lit and not horribly interesting. Possibly because I didn’t care about the characters, possibly because it made everything...sterile and bland.
All in all, I want my two hours back. I also want to rewatch the original.
