While Charlie Hunman is proud of his work in Pacific Rim, he believes the second film could improve on the story and character depth.
[toggler title=”TL;DR” ]Charlie Hunman hasn’t said much about Pacific Rim 2 and has given out very little details regarding the movie. However, the actor believes that the second film, called Maelstrom, could use a stronger story line than the first movie. In an interview with EW he said, “Not to say I wasn’t proud of the [first ‘Pacific Rim’]. 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.”[/toggler]
[dropcap size=small]P[/dropcap]acifc Rim did generally well in the box office and even better overseas. The film was popular enough that a sequel is in the works, titled Maelstrom, and it’s getting a tie-in comic book series and an animated series too. However, Charlie Hunman, who played Raleigh Becket in the movie, is hopeful that the sequel will have a stronger story and more character depth than the first film.
While the first movie had incredible special effects and the fighting between Jaegors and Kaijus was absolutely stunning, it is understandable why Charlie Hunman believes the story didn’t have much strength. These days more and more movies are relying on CGI and this can make character portrayal, depth, and the overall plot weaker. (The Hobbit Trilogy anyone?)
Charlie Hunman is currently filming Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur and it was on the set of the movie that Entertainment Weekly was able get the actor’s opinion on the matter of movies and special effects.
“When [shooting] becomes very technical, those technical aspects create a rigidity to the process, then all of a sudden, you have to find where your little place to fit into that process is, as opposed to the whole thing being about you.”
After explaining how he felt about special effects, Charlie Hunman then went on to explain that he felt the character perception surrounding various Jaegor pilots and their drift compatibility wasn’t as thorough as it could have been. He felt this was because Pacific Rim weighed heavier on the special effects side and less on the focus of the characters.
“I think world creation and monster creation and all of that stuff is exciting as a secondary element of storytelling. When it becomes more important than storytelling, I get very nervous, and you sort of lose me a little bit. Although we tried very hard on Pacific Rim to marry those two elements, I do feel like ultimately it got weighed heavier on the side of spectacle. Not to say I wasn’t proud of the [first ‘Pacific Rim’]. 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.”
As mentioned before, Pacifc Rim did very well at the international box office and fairly well at home. That being said, sources close to Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures say the companies were disappointed in the film’s overall rating at home and how much money the film made. Seeing as how the ending of the Pacific Rim had a pretty strong closing when it comes to Kaijus invading Earth, it will be interesting to see where Pacifc Rim 2: Maelstrom will take the story next.
Pacific Rim 2 will hit theaters in the U.S. August 7th, 2017.
