Why Guillermo Del Toro Refuses To Watch Pacific Rim 2
Endearing himself to horror fans for his acceptance of gothic monsters, director Guillermo del Toro sets himself apart. Mixing fantastical elements with fish monsters and fauns of lore, there is no other creative quite like him. But to discount one of his biggest blockbusters would be doing a disservice. Del Toro wraps the Japanese trope of giant robots fighting monsters in a beautiful love story in the 2013 smash 'em up, "Pacific Rim." Unlike his previous films, this appealed to a mass audience and delighted the world at large. But despite the gargantuan success Raleigh (Charlie Hunnam) and Mako's (Rinko Kikuchi) story brought, del Toro did not join the venture for a sequel. Years after "Pacific Rim Uprising" hit screens, the prolific director still refuses to watch it.
"I didn't see the final movie because that's like watching home movies from your ex-wife," he reflected during Collider's 10th-anniversary screening of the original film. "It is terrible if they're good and worse if they're bad, or the opposite. You don't wanna know. So, I didn't see it. I did read the final script, and it was very different. Some of the elements were the same but very different." According to the "Pacific Rim Uprising" critical response, del Toro was right to trust his instinct. Impossible to live up to the expectations without the "Crimson Peak" director at the helm, there was essentially no hope for the film.
Del Toro had bigger fish to fry
"Pacific Rim Uprising" could have been a natural selection for Guillermo del Toro's next film, but fate seemed to intervene. The director had designs on directing the sequel, though it all fell apart in the pre-production stage. Del Toro further explained to Collider that when it came time to book sound stages for shooting, he had to step away.
"They had to give a deposit for the stages at 5 p.m., or we would lose the stages in Toronto for many months. So, I said, 'Don't forget we're gonna lose the stages,' and five o'clock came and went, and we lost the stages," he recalled. "They said, 'Well, we can shoot it in China.' And I go, 'What do you mean we?' [Laughs] 'I've gotta go do 'Shape of Water.'" The director's decision to step away from the production in favor of a different project was probably for the best.
The 2017 film "Shape of Water," which is essentially a romanticized version of "The Creature From the Black Lagoon," far exceeded the reception of the "Pacific Rim" sequel. Detailing the love story between a disenfranchised woman, Elisa (Sally Hawkins), and a humanoid amphibian suffering unjust experimentation blew audiences out of the water. Nominated for 13 Academy Awards and winning best picture and best director, there is no doubt del Toro made the right choice. The stirring emotional story will be remembered for years to come.