Mortal EnginesEven after the end of the world, society will continue to cling to the past. Mortal Engines is a science fiction movie set in a post-apocalyptic world where the majority of cities are now moving structures called "traction cities", and they travel the landscape of what was once Europe. These cities include the mobile megalopolis called "London", which survives by "digesting" smaller cities, taking its resources for itself. When London captures the small mining town of Salzhaken, one of its residents named Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar) seizes the opportunity to go forward with her vendetta against London's Deputy Lord Mayor and Head of the Guild of Historians, a charismatic man named Thaddeus Valentine (Hugo Weaving).
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Mortal Engines was adapted from a series of books by Phillip Reeve, and the film has several plot threads running concurrently--something that is somewhat common in a sci-fi/fantasy series. This means that for those familiar with the books, Mortal Engines is forced to perform a balancing act by trying to do justice to the complex interplay of stories while maintaining a reasonable running time for a theatrical release. The divergent character arcs begin to show after Hester's attempt on Thaddeus's life is interrupted by a recent London arrival named Tom Natsworthy (Robert Sheehan), a young historian interested in "Old-Tech". (Old-Tech are the artifacts of the world that survived the cataclysmic "Sixty Minute War" which devastated the world, and includes cellphones, toasters, and even statues of the "Minions" from Despicable Me.) After his intervention, Tom is betrayed, and must travel the land with Hester, fighting off scavengers and slavers, and even a cyborg hunter named Shrike (Stephen Lang), who has history with Hester. Tom is greeted when he gets to London by Thaddeus's daughter, Katherine (Leila George), who begins to suspect that her father is up to no good, and investigates him with the help of an apprentice engineer named Bevis Pod (Ronan Raftery). Meanwhile, tensions between London and the "anti-traction" city of Guan Sho (a stationary city situated around the former Great Wall of China) come to a head, and Tom and Hester find themselves allied with Anna Fang (Jihae), a warrior of the Anti-Traction League. As all of these stories intersect, it becomes clear that another war is on the horizon, and the secret concealed within the recreation of St. Paul's Cathedral atop this new London may tip the scales for whoever commands this mysterious power.
Mortal Engines is directed by Christian Rivers, whose cinematic background is predominantly associated with director Peter Jackson as a special effects supervisor for films like The Lord of the Rings trilogy. As such, Mortal Engines focuses on visual appeal, with sophisticated computer-generated special effects that create a world of the future which itself borrows much from the past. The aesthetic of Mortal Engines is largely derived from steampunk--an industrial look hearkening back to late 19th century England. London swallows up cities like Salzhaken as a train devours coal, and the presence of dirigibles and other antiquated tech adds to this sense of a future that follows a little too close in step with the past. This sense of a world that is in the future but fumbles with the equipment of yesteryear is reminiscent of Terry Gilliam's Brazil. The costuming of the characters and set design also resembles this erstwhile period, as does the architecture of London and other locales, with notable anachronisms. Mortal Engines starts with a bang, and is frequently punctuated by fast-moving, explosive set pieces involving airships, prisons with isolation cells suspended over water, and so on. The concept of moving cities is an uncommon one in sci-fi/fantasy, but is also found in other fantasy/steampunk works like The Gypsy Nation from "The Revenge of the Rose" by Michael Moorcock. There are political overtones in the film, primarily about a clash between Eastern and Western ideologies--one that apparently persists even after the end of the world. However, Mortal Engines seems more concerned with delivering an action-packed special effects extravaganza, and is comfortable keeping these themes in background instead. There are a lot of details about the setting that are peppered in and only occasionally revisited, like the devastating space weaponry called "Medusa" which destroyed the cities of the old world. Despite the multitude of characters and how the film explores their individual motivations, Hester is the true protagonist. Mortal Engines endeavors to paint a portrait of a young woman who has endured much heartbreak in her short life, and invites the audience to sympathize--or at least empathize--with her cynical worldview through a series of flashbacks about the death of her mother, pointedly named "Pandora" (Caren Pistorius). Audiences will likely enjoy Mortal Engines mostly by going into it with a fresh perspective and open mind about the colorful world it depicts.
Recommended for: Fans of a stylish science fiction movie that draws inspiration from a very British steampunk look and feel. Mortal Engines has lots of action and explosions, with only a few instances of semi-graphic violence. Although rated PG-13, there is little in the way of objectionable content, and even light-hearted moments make this film a good choice for family movie night, though both younger and older audiences may get a bit confused with all of the different plot threads crammed in to the runtime.
Mortal Engines is directed by Christian Rivers, whose cinematic background is predominantly associated with director Peter Jackson as a special effects supervisor for films like The Lord of the Rings trilogy. As such, Mortal Engines focuses on visual appeal, with sophisticated computer-generated special effects that create a world of the future which itself borrows much from the past. The aesthetic of Mortal Engines is largely derived from steampunk--an industrial look hearkening back to late 19th century England. London swallows up cities like Salzhaken as a train devours coal, and the presence of dirigibles and other antiquated tech adds to this sense of a future that follows a little too close in step with the past. This sense of a world that is in the future but fumbles with the equipment of yesteryear is reminiscent of Terry Gilliam's Brazil. The costuming of the characters and set design also resembles this erstwhile period, as does the architecture of London and other locales, with notable anachronisms. Mortal Engines starts with a bang, and is frequently punctuated by fast-moving, explosive set pieces involving airships, prisons with isolation cells suspended over water, and so on. The concept of moving cities is an uncommon one in sci-fi/fantasy, but is also found in other fantasy/steampunk works like The Gypsy Nation from "The Revenge of the Rose" by Michael Moorcock. There are political overtones in the film, primarily about a clash between Eastern and Western ideologies--one that apparently persists even after the end of the world. However, Mortal Engines seems more concerned with delivering an action-packed special effects extravaganza, and is comfortable keeping these themes in background instead. There are a lot of details about the setting that are peppered in and only occasionally revisited, like the devastating space weaponry called "Medusa" which destroyed the cities of the old world. Despite the multitude of characters and how the film explores their individual motivations, Hester is the true protagonist. Mortal Engines endeavors to paint a portrait of a young woman who has endured much heartbreak in her short life, and invites the audience to sympathize--or at least empathize--with her cynical worldview through a series of flashbacks about the death of her mother, pointedly named "Pandora" (Caren Pistorius). Audiences will likely enjoy Mortal Engines mostly by going into it with a fresh perspective and open mind about the colorful world it depicts.
Recommended for: Fans of a stylish science fiction movie that draws inspiration from a very British steampunk look and feel. Mortal Engines has lots of action and explosions, with only a few instances of semi-graphic violence. Although rated PG-13, there is little in the way of objectionable content, and even light-hearted moments make this film a good choice for family movie night, though both younger and older audiences may get a bit confused with all of the different plot threads crammed in to the runtime.