7) It Would Be A Waste Of A Concept Not To Go Back
We unavoidably live in an age where blockbusters are made to set up franchises. It’s an admittedly cynical way of doing business, and is especially so when so many prospective franchise beginners arrive half-baked or bereft of ideas. Think this year’s Terminator Genisys, which was effectively a rehash of Terminator movies previous, and had only two things on its mind: making money, and starting the franchise over so sequels could follow. Pacific Rim, on the other hand, was very different.
Pacific Rim came fully-formed, packed with invention and some of the best design work seen in blockbuster cinema in years. It had a concept most western viewers weren’t familiar with, and took inspiration from old monster movies, then did its monster vs. giant robot thing on a scale that no filmmaker had been able to before.
The Pacific Rim franchise may be a bit of a Frankenstein, but del Toro has taken existing elements and made them feel so fresh that they appear brand new. Failing to make another go-around would, frankly, be a waste of the Pacific Rim universe’s obvious potential.