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The Preview Reel: Pacific Rim: Uprising and Sherlock Gnomes

Scott Davis
The Preview Reel

Welcome to the “Preview Reel” column, where we look at the week’s upcoming wide-release movies. Black Panther continued its record breaking run last weekend as it was the top movie for the fifth weekend in a row. The superhero’s streak is likely to end as another blockbuster opens this week in the form of Pacific Rim: Uprising, as does the animated Sherlock Gnomes.

 

Pacific Rim: Uprising

What we are excited about: The pitch for the original Pacific Rim (2013) was simple: robots vs. monsters. Guillermo del Toro’s big-budget blockbuster was mostly fun, even though the film had a lot of problems. The action scenes were entertaining (though poorly lit) and the world building was exciting enough to entertain the idea of the movie launching a franchise. Now, five years later, we get the next chapter in the Pacific Rim universe, and it doesn’t look terrible. There’s a new director at the helm, Steven S. DeKnight, and an almost entirely new cast. It looks like they made everything brighter and it seems to embrace its ridiculous conceit instead of being dragged down by it like the first was. If it has some nice action set pieces and a decent story, we think it can live up to the first one’s modest legacy.

What we are worried about: Guillermo del Toro was the factor that made the first Pacific Rim as good as it was. The now Academy Award-winning director brought his own sense of style and scope to an original idea that felt like a fresh of breath air amid so many sequels and reboots. Yes, Pacific Rim is not a perfect movie, and it still follows a lot of the same tropes other blockbusters have, but it was fun to see a new world not seen in other media. Is it possible to capture that same magic in a sequel with a different director? We’re not sure. We think that Pacific Rim is better viewed as a one-off experience rather than a franchise, especially without Del Toro at the helm.

The Buzz: Much like the first Pacific Rim, there has been faint or moderate buzz on the sequel heading into its opening weekend. The first film barely earned enough to get a sequel, and it has been five long years since it came out. Even with a John Boyega (Star Wars: The Force Awakens [2015] and Star Wars: The Last Jedi [2017]) front-and-center, we’re not sure if there’s much interest in a sequel. There aren’t any reviews as of this writing and we’re expecting a modest $25 million opening.

Final Thoughts: We liked the first film, but we’re not entirely sure anyone was really clamoring for a sequel without Guillermo del Toro.

 

Sherlock Gnomes

What we are excited about: Since the release of Peter Rabbit in February, there hasn’t been a straight-forward family film at the box office. You could make a case for A Wrinkle in Time, but we’re talking about films that aren’t on a blockbuster level appealing to younger viewers. If you have little ones and they’re itching (probably) to see a new animated movie, this might do the trick.

What we are worried about: There weren’t many fans of Gnomeo & Juliet (2011), but it apparently did well enough to deserve a sequel. Younger kids are obviously the targeted demographic for a movie like this, but Gnomeo & Juliet was too juvenile for its own good. Not only that, but it’s been seven years since that came out and we don’t think there’s much interest in a sequel.

The Buzz: The internet does not get excited for movies like this, but again, Sherlock Gnomes is targeted at those who are too young to have a Twitter account (or at least shouldn’t). There haven’t been a lot of family options recently so this could enjoy a good opening box-office weekend. Look for a first weekend around $13 million.

Final Thoughts: If you need to entertain the kids for a couple of hours, this could be a good option. Otherwise, Sherlock Gnomes looks like a skip for everyone else.

Scott Davis

Scott Davis is a recent graduate of Oakland University where he earned a degree in journalism. He worked for the student newspaper on campus, The Oakland Post, where he became the paper's managing editor. He also earned a minor in Cinema Studies at OU. Scott enjoys all things film and TV related, especially the blockbuster kind. He might be the biggest Christopher Nolan fan you know.
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