Charlie Hunnam (who stars as Raleigh Becket in Pacific Rim) recently spoke about Pacific Rim 2 and his regrets regarding character depth in the first film. It's interesting that he's finally spoken up about the new film seeing as he's yet to be confirmed; given his casual vernacular it seems that the return of Gypsy Danger's pilot is intimate.
However, Hunnam wasn't too keen on being upstaged by giant monsters and his bipedal vehicle:
“When it becomes very technical, those technical aspects create a rigidity to the process,” said Hunnam. “Then all of the sudden, you have to find where your little place to fit into that process is, as opposed to the whole thing being about you.”
He lamented that the essential world building and fun of the film took precedence over the characters. He continued, “I do feel like ultimately it [Pacific Rim] got weighed heavier on the side of spectacle than storytelling. I hope that we are able to remedy that a little bit going into the second [film].”
“Not to say I wasn’t proud of the film.” Hunnam rebounded. “I really liked it, and I felt like it delivered exactly what it was supposed to. But I do feel like we could have maybe plumbed the depths of the character and the storytelling a little bit more.”
Although Pacific Rim did tend to downplay character resolution in the third act, its characters have become one of the most beloved aspects in the movie-- Especially in comparison to characters in another recent, Hollywood kaiju homage. And although it's nice that he recognizes things can be improved upon, I wonder how aligned his vision was with director Guillermo del Toro's.
Pacific Rim is first and foremost a throwback to Japanese kaiju films/tokusatsu and giant robot anime. Guillermo del Toro could not have made that clearer leading up to the film's release. While strong characters are essential to any story, spectacle has always sat in the front seat of these kinds of movies. It's not a bad thing as long as Hunnam and his co-stars keep us engaged and the script stays true to its intentions-- Both of which I believe the first Pacific Rim did very well.
Time will tell if Hunnam gets his wish.
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Sources:
Entertainment Weekly
