How Pacific Rim Should Have Ended
This article is more than 2 years old
How it Should Have Ended is a damned national treasure. They take big, notable, and notorious films that conclude in less than satisfactory manners, and deliver exactly what their moniker indicates, alternate endings. This service has a special impact for those movies that leave you scratching your head as you leave the theaters, asking yourself things like, how did they…why did they…what the hell were they thinking…why didn’t they just? While Guillermo del Toro’s monsters versus mechs epic Pacific Rim was certainly one of the most fun movies of the summer, there were some puzzling choices. And it should be no surprise that HISHE took aim at the biggest—at least physically speaking—movie of the summer.
There are some great bits in this video, as we’ve come to expect. A personal favorite is how, in order to fight the massive creatures known as Kaiju that arrive on the scene and wreck up the joint, the United Nations watched lots of anime looking for defense ideas. From the story, it’s a definite possibility that the politicians studied Japanese cartoons looking for advice. How else to do you explain creating skyscraper tall mechanical suits in order to fight them?
This video also addresses one of the lingering questions surrounding Pacific Rim, and that is, since Jaeger Gipsy Danger’s sword seems like a very, very effective weapon when fighting the Kaiju, why does it take so long for them to whip it out? It arrives at an ideal time, story wise, but from a practicality perspective, you have to wonder why they don’t have that one at the ready from the word go. Then again, maybe they save the sword for those dire moments when there are no other options, instead using rocket punches and missiles, and they’ve actually had to use it. That seems like an unlikely scenario, but it could have happened.
Even though there are some high points, I have to admit, this isn’t my favorite installment of How it Should Have Ended. You’ll get some big laughs out of the deal, but overall, it’s a bit flat and feels forced, like they made the video because they felt like they should, rather than because they had stunning ideas. It’s still amusing enough to warrant a look, and you can’t go wrong with a Power Ranger or Voltron cameo, but the end result doesn’t may leave some of you wanting.
Pacific Rim didn’t exactly light the American box office on fire, though it has performed well enough in key international markets, especially China, that there is still talk of a potential sequel. I know every studio wants every movie to be the starting point of a new big time franchise, but I’d be perfectly satisfied if Pacific Rim remains a one off. Not that I’m opposed to see giant robots duking it out with massive monsters from another dimension, but another movie feels unnecessary. Besides, we have Godzilla stomping towards us next year to get our creature fix.
