Film Review 1: Mortal Engines (Mainstream special)

Title: Mortal Engines

Countries: USA and New Zealand

Year: 2018

Genres: Sci-Fi, Adventure, Action and Fantasy

Runtime: 2 hours and 3 minutes

Language: English

Directed by: Christian Rivers

Written by: Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh (based on the novel by Philip Reeve)

Music by: Junkie XL

Cinematography by: Simon Raby

Cast: Hera Hilmar (Hester Shaw), Robert Sheehan (Tom Natsworthy), Hugo Weaving (Thaddeus Valentine), Jihae (Anna Fang), Ronan Raftery (Bevis Pod), Leila George (Katherine Valentine), Patrick Malahide (Magnus Crome), Stephen Lang (Shrike), Colin Salmon (Chudeigh Pomeroy), Caren Pistorius (Pandora Shaw), Stephen Ure (Pewsey), Andrew Lees (Herbert Milliphant), Mark Mitchinson (Vambrace), Callum Gittins (Chief Navigator), Nathaniel Lees (Pierrepoint), Mark Hadlow (Stigwood), Sarah Peirse (Dr. Twix), René Jean Page (Captain Khora) and Menik Gooneratne (Sathya).

Plot:

Thousand years after the destruction of our actual civilization by a cataclysm, humanity has adapted so now, there are gigantic moving cities that roam the earth on huge wheels absorbing smaller towns to obtain resources. In one of those colossal cities, Tom Natsworthy, from London's lower class, must fight for his life alongside the dangerous fugitive Hester Shaw. Two opposites, whose paths should never have crossed, form a peculiar alliance destined to change the course of the future.

My review:

It is the typical mainstream film whose story is about a Hester, a girl who clearly has PTSD since her mother, Pandora Shaw, who discovered new technology, was killed by Thaddeus Valentine, the ambitious Deputy Lord Mayor of the Head of the Guild of Historians. She allies with Tom Natsworthy, an apprentice of History, whose passion is discovering old machines and engines. He is thrown out of the city since he left Hester go after the persecution. From now on, Hester and Tom will live different adventures so that their ties become more powerful during the film.

The steampunk premise is interesting but it is badly executed.  It has many chichés of other films like Star Wars or Terminator and it does not explain well why there was a cataclism on earth. Furthermore the entire plot has no sense since it looks like a pilot episode of a TV series rather than a film.The acting was poor (excepting Robert Sheehan and Hugo Weaving whose characters were at least believable). However, the photography and soundtrack have captured the essence of the movie.

Dear Peter Jackson, you could do better than that, you did wonderfully on the Hobbit and Lord of The Rings series. From my point of view, your best is slow-paced fantasy films and not fast-paced Sci-Fi Steampunk.

Film mark: 3,7 out of 10.


Trailer: