It's a kid's movie with enough special effects and explosions to keep their parents happy - and with a heavy dose of nostalgic awesomeness to get that 7 year old inside of you to jump up and down waiting for the next episode of Voltron to come on...so yeah, it's got a wider audience but i think the primary target is the kids through their parents.
so yeah. kids/parents/the geek inside of us all who still loves giant robots vs. monsters
Do I still like kids stuff now? Hells no, I'm a grown-up.
That's nonsense. Why should a grown up not like kids stuff? That sounds like a self-uncertain facade of 'adult' behavior there. It's okay to be old and like young entertainment, kind of like bronies (but try to be less annoying/vocal about it).
I'm quite sure there's a quote someone once made about this. "I'm adult enough to admit I like childish things" or something.
But as far as a thought-provoking artistic movie with interesting dialog, great cinematography, amazing acting, deep plots... can't expect any of that from a kids movie.
What about any Pixar movie? They're critically acclaimed not because they're kids movies but because they're good movies. While they may be animated, the argument still holds.
Yeah, but those are different. They're made to be for a wide audience.
I just think those are two different things. The fairy-tale type stories like Snow White and whatnot, and the eye-candy sort of stuff that little kids love, like the Transformers and Thunder Cats of when I was a kid.
That's nonsense. Why should a grown up not like kids stuff? That sounds like a self-uncertain facade of 'adult' behavior there. It's okay to be old and like young entertainment, kind of like bronies (but try to be less annoying/vocal about it).
I'm quite sure there's a quote someone once made about this. "I'm adult enough to admit I like childish things" or something.
Oh I agree. Otherwise I couldn't very well be working in the game industry
That's not what I meant though. What I meant was that there's a certain genre of pure eye-candy that really just doesn't have much depth. It's great for holding kids attention span, but really nothing more. Some people may disagree, I think mostly because of nostalgia, but I think the old 80s cartoons we grew up on fit the bill. Really, looking at it objectively, how much value is there in the Thundercats or Transformers? They're just fun and silly things that kids like to watch.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with them, which is why Pacific Rim seems great to me. But that's just not the first place I'd go if as an adult I wanted to get a sharp social criticism, or a deep plot with lots of character growth. Sometimes simple things are all you want. But I've already been through thousands of hours of that as a kid, and it just doesn't interest me anymore.
That sounds a little bit like your tolerance for crap has gotten lower.
Thundercats may have the best opening ever but the show itself is horrible.
I grew up with the same 80's shows and movies, and there's a lot of em I can still enjoy but there's just as many that I can't force myself through. Especially any Transformers episodes featuring the Dinobots. Gimmie some Goonies or Monster Squad and I'm 8years old all over again.
anyone who can convince a bunch of hollywood execs to make a film about giant robots punching the crap out of giant monsters has my vote, and my money.
Why must you guys always do this, you're making me cry not-so-manly-tears as lube now D,:
Why can't we have nice, simple, fun things? I know, many of you right now are thinking about Transformers and how people don't like that one, so why make a concession to this one if it's going to be so simple?
Movies like this are fun for the same reason Iron-Man was fun (hopefully), which is proper pacing, proper CGI, proper direction, and lastly, not having a 20 year old underwear model talk to Megatron about daddy-issues, which becomes the finale of the movie. Movies like these are fun because in their simplicity, they try and be a movie in-itself, not a Sucker-Punch-esque movie where they try and say "Oh, the robots, ninja's and panties in our movies are meant as a social commentary for feminism, kar kar!".
Hopefully Pacific Rim will do just that, be a fun run without trying to become something that's it's not meant to be.
I don't know about you, but when I was 10 I loved all sorts of Robots, Transformers, Thundercats, He-Man, that kind of stuff. Do I still like kids stuff now? Hells no, I'm a grown-up. But I'm also not the target audience for that stuff anymore. Kids are.
This movie would have blown my mind if I had seen it when I was 9, and it'll blow my little cousin's mind when I take him to see it.
But as far as a thought-provoking artistic movie with interesting dialog, great cinematography, amazing acting, deep plots... can't expect any of that from a kids movie.
- All of this is off-topic and has nothing to do with the quality of Pacific Rim -
Yeah I sort of get what you're saying, but personally, being an adult, I can still appreciate the craft and storytelling that goes into the making of a movie no matter what or whom it targets. That a product caters to a certain audience doesn't have to make it unenjoyable for everyone else to watch.
When people adopt that mentality this sort of thing tends to happen;
Did kids love it? Sure. I think most kids actually prefer the new movies to the original triology but to everyone else it's blatanly dumb and has very few redeeming qualities.
As someone pointed out, Pixar or Miyazaki movies are probably a good example of movies that people of all ages can enjoy because they are very well constructed. Not just as far as kid's movies go but as movies in general. Ofcourse, this is very hard to pull off but then again, who said making movies or any creative work for that matter was easy?
All this aside, I have faith in Guillermo, as I said earlier, I normally enjoy his movies and if anyone could do it it's probably him
The trailer is very much pitched at an adult audience. There's nothing beyond being slightly scary that would be particularly unsuitable for the average child there, but the way it's structured is aiming to pull in the blockbuster audiences.
I think it's not so much aimed at children as the folks who want to remember what it was like to be children.
Because Hollywood has fucked up too many movies with loads of potential to ever be taken at face value. Hell, they had the balls to fuck up Dragonball, and that's an entire generation's most coveted show! If they care that little then why should I trust them?
I think this will be a good movie, but good is just to say that I won't leave the theater mad (as I did after watching Crapformers 3). That's how low my expectations have fallen: I'm tepid about a movie full of giant robots rocket punching godzilla in the teeth! Seriously...
I know Del Toro is going to make this awesome! Looks like a damn fun flick! Definitely one of the more enjoyable CG trailers as of late, more cool than that Will Smith or Tom Cruise post apoc stuff, imho.
The one nitpick I have is the beginning...same problem I had with Die Hard with a Vengeance....why the fuck would jets fly that low and use their cannons rather than fly high up and drop air to surface bombs and missiles? Always seems silly when modern jet fighters are used as if they only have the capabilities of WW2 fighters. /jet nerd rant.
Real Steel was also a movie for all audiences, for kids... like some of you would have said, but it was GREAT.
That's a solid example. Real Steel was accused of being cliche and formulaic. And that is true, it was a bit lazy in some of its story decisions. It leaned on some tried-and-true storytelling conventions to yank on the ol' heartstrings, and get the audience to the emotional place it needed them to be at.
At the same time, it was very capably executed and crafted, and I genuinely think that counts. While there is something to be said for shocking twists and original approaches to stories, there is also a place for simple stories that are well-executed. Real Steel played it kind of safe, but it did a really good job within the narrative space that it adhered to. It also did a much better job of showing respect for its audience, both young and old.
At the end of the day, it was a good movie, no matter who it was attempting to target. And almost everyone can appreciate a fundamentally good movie, even if it doesn't appeal specifically to them.
We have yet to see exactly how this will play out with Pacific Rim. But I am personally hopefull. I love Guiermo Del Toro's other films. He is a dependable director/producer, with a gift for infusing his work with personality, heart, and charm. With his hands on the reigns I am confident that we are going to get an appealing viewing experience. I just hope the film does well at the box office so that Mr. Del Toro can get support for some of his other projects. I REALLY want some Lovecraftian movies made.
You're basically saying that it was okay that real steal was a massive cliche because it had some decent actors and nice cg. It had nice production values, that's true, but the story was inexcusable and frankly embarrassing. Cliche and tropes layered for the sake of laziness, and in lieu of the story elements that actually make us care. There is more character development and original story in an episode of blues clues.
It's not fair to dismiss the narrative as "simple" just because it was geared more for children either. You can write a simple story without relying on cliches to push your story forward, and frankly I believe more and more the public is rejecting these type of "filler" stories in games and movies, and rewarding the studios/productions which try for originality.
You're basically saying that it was okay that real steal was a massive cliche because it had some decent actors and nice cg. It had nice production values, that's true, but the story was inexcusable and frankly embarrassing. Cliche and tropes layered for the sake of laziness, and in lieu of the story elements that actually make us care. There is more character development and original story in an episode of blues clues.
It's not fair to dismiss the narrative as "simple" just because it was geared more for children either. You can write a simple story without relying on cliches to push your story forward, and frankly I believe more and more the public is rejecting these type of "filler" stories in games and movies, and rewarding the studios/productions which try for originality.
No, I'm saying that Real Steel can be forgiven for leaning on cliches because the characters in the story actually were well-written and well-acted. It might have had its embarrsing, sacharine moments, but there is a time and a place for such sentimentality. Not everything needs to be gritty and realistic. Sometimes it works to have a feel-good story, and Real Steel was an example of this concept capably handled.
Frankly, I couldn't agree less when it comes to audiences rejecting "filler" stories and rewarding experimentation. The general audience usually laps up mediocrity. If it didn't, the Star Wars prequels and Transformers films would have tanked at the box office. Ditto for Avatar. Those are all examples of poorly written stories with no real character development, ridiculous plots, and needless bloat. Real Steel was predictable and cliche, but it kept things tight, and had genuine heart to it. I'll take a dose of sacharine sentimentality if it means I get a decent story that is well presented. I'd far prefer that over the brain-dead dross that is the Transformers trilogy, where the director's contempt for the audience is apparant in every frame.
The characters in Real Steel were cliches themselves, and their struggles could only be categorized as 'people who have problems, who already possess the skills to solve those problems, who do not need to grow at all in order to apply those skills to those problems'. In a nutshell, the things they face are there ONLY to drive the movie from one robot scene to another, instead being their to drive the characters from characterdevelopmentpoint(a) to characterdevelopmentpoint(b).
As for originality and the masses:
Yes, the transformers, avatar, and star wars prequels were massive successes in terms of revenue. But they always were going to be. Huge marketing campaigns, directors with a history of success, big budgets, and in the case of two of them, a built in fan base and following, and in StarW specificially perhaps the largest film based fan-base in history.
But look at the real successes of the past couple years. Pixar, who if they do anything, do original. Tv shows with a character-driven bend like games of thrones (maybe to a lesser extent), Mad Men (definitely to a great extent), The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, etc.
_____
Look, I'm typically the last person to defend the general public, and I would never ever defend the taste of the younger demographic, but I do believe that at least, in part, originality in narrative is a factor (of many) in success and failure.
Real Steal failed because it had no heart. It had no characters than we hadn't seen a thousand times before. It had nowhere to go except towards a final fight scene because it didn't care about how it go there. That's why it failed.
My guess is that's why Pacific Rim will fail as well.
Real Steal failed because it had no heart. It had no characters than we hadn't seen a thousand times before. It had nowhere to go except towards a final fight scene because it didn't care about how it go there. That's why it failed.
My guess is that's why Pacific Rim will fail as well.
Real Steel's reported budget was around 80 million. It's wordlwide gross was close to 300 million. It also managed to garner a decent degree of critical praise. By pretty much every metric, Real Steel was a resounding success.
It's "failure" is simply a matter of your personal preferences. I agree that the film didn't take any risks. I've openly admitted that it relied heavily on cliche and tropes. Where we are at odds is how we perceived its relative quality. It's clear that for you the predictability of the plot spoiled the experience. For me it didn't. In my mind everything doesn't have to be original and fresh. It certainly is nice to have some originality now and then. I just don't need it ALL the time.
Also, the vast majority of the examples you offered of the "right way" to approach originality are all from Television. TV is a much better fit for long-term story telling. It's also a much better medium for pushing and experimenting with character development over spectacle. (since writing is usually cheaper than spectacle) You also need to consider what these newer shows had as their competition. A lot of these narratively involved shows were introduced after the reality-TV stagnation that plagued the last decade. Audiences were eager for these shows because they were starving for narrative depth and decent character development.
Pacific Rim is essentially a Kaiuju film being led by one of the more talented directors/producers of modern Hollywood. He is no stranger to either capable character development, or originality. This is the man who spearheaded Pan's Labyrinth, for crying out loud! If that isn't enough originality for you than you need to question your standards.
I cannot wait to see this movie. I know I'll be leaving the theater wishing I was a giant fighting robot, just the way I felt as a kid watching Power Rangers!
I cannot wait to see this movie. I know I'll be leaving the theater wishing I was a giant fighting robot, just the way I felt as a kid watching Power Rangers!
Oh yes haha, and wishing you could take it to school. That would show 'em!
Real Steel was the exact same plot as Over the Top...but i still found it entertaining.
Technically Steele was first.. Real Steel was adapted to be a movie from the 1963 episode of The Twilight Zone also based on Richard Matheson's short story called Steel.
And I'll just leave this here.. I'll have to try and leave my brain at the door as the unbelievable physics issues are just outstanding.
I had to pop in to delete a spammer - so far my plan of ignoring all media has gone well. I've had to plug my ears & shut my eyes to avoid a few commercials but my poor planning during my recent move has resulted in no internet or TV at home until July 20th.
Looking forward to seeing this on Friday. It's been ages since a decent massive monster movie has been made and after watching those behind the scenes was fantastic. May be tempted to buy the artbook.
This one is going to have a certain amount of crowd appeal. I'm going to go see it on Saturday morning. That's late enough after launch for all of the more eager moviegoers to have already seen it, but early enough after launch for word of mouth to not yet have spread. (in case its good) So I should be able to find a relatively empty theater. Also, morning on a Saturday in the middle of summer is kid's movie time, not giant-rampaging monster movie time.
I want a chance to enjoy this film in optimal viewing conditions.
I had to pop in to delete a spammer - so far my plan of ignoring all media has gone well. I've had to plug my ears & shut my eyes to avoid a few commercials but my poor planning during my recent move has resulted in no internet or TV at home until July 20th.
I also did this. I knew it was coming but just pushed all else to the side.
It was really great (went with a group from work on Monday night). Guillermo did not disappoint. I'll probably go again this or next weekend with the wife. I think she would even like it.
If Pacific Rim ends up being like Transformers, I will be very disappointed. I don't need another film with terrible writing, unnecessary mythology, and a McGuffin for fixing everything at the end. I'm hoping DelToro can do more with the premise than Michael Bay.
Replies
so yeah. kids/parents/the geek inside of us all who still loves giant robots vs. monsters
That's nonsense. Why should a grown up not like kids stuff? That sounds like a self-uncertain facade of 'adult' behavior there. It's okay to be old and like young entertainment, kind of like bronies (but try to be less annoying/vocal about it).
I'm quite sure there's a quote someone once made about this. "I'm adult enough to admit I like childish things" or something.
edit: the quote comes from TotalBiscuit, who got it from CS lewis; [ame="
What about any Pixar movie? They're critically acclaimed not because they're kids movies but because they're good movies. While they may be animated, the argument still holds.
I just think those are two different things. The fairy-tale type stories like Snow White and whatnot, and the eye-candy sort of stuff that little kids love, like the Transformers and Thunder Cats of when I was a kid.
Oh I agree. Otherwise I couldn't very well be working in the game industry
That's not what I meant though. What I meant was that there's a certain genre of pure eye-candy that really just doesn't have much depth. It's great for holding kids attention span, but really nothing more. Some people may disagree, I think mostly because of nostalgia, but I think the old 80s cartoons we grew up on fit the bill. Really, looking at it objectively, how much value is there in the Thundercats or Transformers? They're just fun and silly things that kids like to watch.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with them, which is why Pacific Rim seems great to me. But that's just not the first place I'd go if as an adult I wanted to get a sharp social criticism, or a deep plot with lots of character growth. Sometimes simple things are all you want. But I've already been through thousands of hours of that as a kid, and it just doesn't interest me anymore.
Thundercats may have the best opening ever but the show itself is horrible.
I grew up with the same 80's shows and movies, and there's a lot of em I can still enjoy but there's just as many that I can't force myself through. Especially any Transformers episodes featuring the Dinobots. Gimmie some Goonies or Monster Squad and I'm 8years old all over again.
Why can't we have nice, simple, fun things? I know, many of you right now are thinking about Transformers and how people don't like that one, so why make a concession to this one if it's going to be so simple?
Movies like this are fun for the same reason Iron-Man was fun (hopefully), which is proper pacing, proper CGI, proper direction, and lastly, not having a 20 year old underwear model talk to Megatron about daddy-issues, which becomes the finale of the movie. Movies like these are fun because in their simplicity, they try and be a movie in-itself, not a Sucker-Punch-esque movie where they try and say "Oh, the robots, ninja's and panties in our movies are meant as a social commentary for feminism, kar kar!".
Hopefully Pacific Rim will do just that, be a fun run without trying to become something that's it's not meant to be.
- All of this is off-topic and has nothing to do with the quality of Pacific Rim -
Yeah I sort of get what you're saying, but personally, being an adult, I can still appreciate the craft and storytelling that goes into the making of a movie no matter what or whom it targets. That a product caters to a certain audience doesn't have to make it unenjoyable for everyone else to watch.
When people adopt that mentality this sort of thing tends to happen;
Did kids love it? Sure. I think most kids actually prefer the new movies to the original triology but to everyone else it's blatanly dumb and has very few redeeming qualities.
As someone pointed out, Pixar or Miyazaki movies are probably a good example of movies that people of all ages can enjoy because they are very well constructed. Not just as far as kid's movies go but as movies in general. Ofcourse, this is very hard to pull off but then again, who said making movies or any creative work for that matter was easy?
All this aside, I have faith in Guillermo, as I said earlier, I normally enjoy his movies and if anyone could do it it's probably him
I think it's not so much aimed at children as the folks who want to remember what it was like to be children.
Because Hollywood has fucked up too many movies with loads of potential to ever be taken at face value. Hell, they had the balls to fuck up Dragonball, and that's an entire generation's most coveted show! If they care that little then why should I trust them?
I think this will be a good movie, but good is just to say that I won't leave the theater mad (as I did after watching Crapformers 3). That's how low my expectations have fallen: I'm tepid about a movie full of giant robots rocket punching godzilla in the teeth! Seriously...
I didn't know there were such mature guys here lol.
cogs and bolts will be flying at you... In 3D!
The one nitpick I have is the beginning...same problem I had with Die Hard with a Vengeance....why the fuck would jets fly that low and use their cannons rather than fly high up and drop air to surface bombs and missiles? Always seems silly when modern jet fighters are used as if they only have the capabilities of WW2 fighters. /jet nerd rant.
Hyped yet?
Movie is gonna be amazing!
[ame="
That's a solid example. Real Steel was accused of being cliche and formulaic. And that is true, it was a bit lazy in some of its story decisions. It leaned on some tried-and-true storytelling conventions to yank on the ol' heartstrings, and get the audience to the emotional place it needed them to be at.
At the same time, it was very capably executed and crafted, and I genuinely think that counts. While there is something to be said for shocking twists and original approaches to stories, there is also a place for simple stories that are well-executed. Real Steel played it kind of safe, but it did a really good job within the narrative space that it adhered to. It also did a much better job of showing respect for its audience, both young and old.
At the end of the day, it was a good movie, no matter who it was attempting to target. And almost everyone can appreciate a fundamentally good movie, even if it doesn't appeal specifically to them.
We have yet to see exactly how this will play out with Pacific Rim. But I am personally hopefull. I love Guiermo Del Toro's other films. He is a dependable director/producer, with a gift for infusing his work with personality, heart, and charm. With his hands on the reigns I am confident that we are going to get an appealing viewing experience. I just hope the film does well at the box office so that Mr. Del Toro can get support for some of his other projects. I REALLY want some Lovecraftian movies made.
You're basically saying that it was okay that real steal was a massive cliche because it had some decent actors and nice cg. It had nice production values, that's true, but the story was inexcusable and frankly embarrassing. Cliche and tropes layered for the sake of laziness, and in lieu of the story elements that actually make us care. There is more character development and original story in an episode of blues clues.
It's not fair to dismiss the narrative as "simple" just because it was geared more for children either. You can write a simple story without relying on cliches to push your story forward, and frankly I believe more and more the public is rejecting these type of "filler" stories in games and movies, and rewarding the studios/productions which try for originality.
[ame="
Super cliche... but it was so well done IMO.
No, I'm saying that Real Steel can be forgiven for leaning on cliches because the characters in the story actually were well-written and well-acted. It might have had its embarrsing, sacharine moments, but there is a time and a place for such sentimentality. Not everything needs to be gritty and realistic. Sometimes it works to have a feel-good story, and Real Steel was an example of this concept capably handled.
Frankly, I couldn't agree less when it comes to audiences rejecting "filler" stories and rewarding experimentation. The general audience usually laps up mediocrity. If it didn't, the Star Wars prequels and Transformers films would have tanked at the box office. Ditto for Avatar. Those are all examples of poorly written stories with no real character development, ridiculous plots, and needless bloat. Real Steel was predictable and cliche, but it kept things tight, and had genuine heart to it. I'll take a dose of sacharine sentimentality if it means I get a decent story that is well presented. I'd far prefer that over the brain-dead dross that is the Transformers trilogy, where the director's contempt for the audience is apparant in every frame.
The characters in Real Steel were cliches themselves, and their struggles could only be categorized as 'people who have problems, who already possess the skills to solve those problems, who do not need to grow at all in order to apply those skills to those problems'. In a nutshell, the things they face are there ONLY to drive the movie from one robot scene to another, instead being their to drive the characters from characterdevelopmentpoint(a) to characterdevelopmentpoint(b).
As for originality and the masses:
Yes, the transformers, avatar, and star wars prequels were massive successes in terms of revenue. But they always were going to be. Huge marketing campaigns, directors with a history of success, big budgets, and in the case of two of them, a built in fan base and following, and in StarW specificially perhaps the largest film based fan-base in history.
But look at the real successes of the past couple years. Pixar, who if they do anything, do original. Tv shows with a character-driven bend like games of thrones (maybe to a lesser extent), Mad Men (definitely to a great extent), The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, etc.
_____
Look, I'm typically the last person to defend the general public, and I would never ever defend the taste of the younger demographic, but I do believe that at least, in part, originality in narrative is a factor (of many) in success and failure.
Real Steal failed because it had no heart. It had no characters than we hadn't seen a thousand times before. It had nowhere to go except towards a final fight scene because it didn't care about how it go there. That's why it failed.
My guess is that's why Pacific Rim will fail as well.
Real Steel's reported budget was around 80 million. It's wordlwide gross was close to 300 million. It also managed to garner a decent degree of critical praise. By pretty much every metric, Real Steel was a resounding success.
It's "failure" is simply a matter of your personal preferences. I agree that the film didn't take any risks. I've openly admitted that it relied heavily on cliche and tropes. Where we are at odds is how we perceived its relative quality. It's clear that for you the predictability of the plot spoiled the experience. For me it didn't. In my mind everything doesn't have to be original and fresh. It certainly is nice to have some originality now and then. I just don't need it ALL the time.
Also, the vast majority of the examples you offered of the "right way" to approach originality are all from Television. TV is a much better fit for long-term story telling. It's also a much better medium for pushing and experimenting with character development over spectacle. (since writing is usually cheaper than spectacle) You also need to consider what these newer shows had as their competition. A lot of these narratively involved shows were introduced after the reality-TV stagnation that plagued the last decade. Audiences were eager for these shows because they were starving for narrative depth and decent character development.
Pacific Rim is essentially a Kaiuju film being led by one of the more talented directors/producers of modern Hollywood. He is no stranger to either capable character development, or originality. This is the man who spearheaded Pan's Labyrinth, for crying out loud! If that isn't enough originality for you than you need to question your standards.
Oh yes haha, and wishing you could take it to school. That would show 'em!
[ame="
Spoilerish stuff like Jaegers featurette:
[ame="
Kaiju featurette:
[ame="
Giant effin' sets:
[ame="
And in case you're suffering from something, Hannibal Chau probably has the cure:
http://www.kaijuremedies.com/
I'm so pumped for this movie, I'm there on day 1!
Technically Steele was first.. Real Steel was adapted to be a movie from the 1963 episode of The Twilight Zone also based on Richard Matheson's short story called Steel.
And I'll just leave this here.. I'll have to try and leave my brain at the door as the unbelievable physics issues are just outstanding.
(spoilers here ..>) http://whatculture.com/film/9-monstrous-problems-you-will-hate-in-pacific-rim.php
and
http://io9.com/how-would-you-carry-a-jaeger-from-pacific-rim-700775398
and
http://movieline.com/2013/01/09/pacific-rim-vs-real-world-physics-giant-robots-guillermo-del-toro/
Apparently there's a battle that is about 20 minutes long at one point that is completely batshit crazy and awesome.
I want a chance to enjoy this film in optimal viewing conditions.
I also did this. I knew it was coming but just pushed all else to the side.
It was really great (went with a group from work on Monday night). Guillermo did not disappoint. I'll probably go again this or next weekend with the wife. I think she would even like it.
Ha, that's my theater of choice, I go to the one in Katy here in Houston. Best place to see a midnight showing too.
If Pacific Rim ends up being like Transformers, I will be very disappointed. I don't need another film with terrible writing, unnecessary mythology, and a McGuffin for fixing everything at the end. I'm hoping DelToro can do more with the premise than Michael Bay.