Mortal Engines

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Mortal Engines takes place in a world where cities exist on wheels. The film follows a young woman named Hester Shaw (played by Hera Hilmar) who tries to assassinate a man named Thaddeus Valentine (played by Hugo Weaving) for murdering her mother years earlier. A young man named Tom (played by Robert Sheehan) accidentally falls into the journey. He tries to stop Hester from killing Valentine, only for Valentine to attempt to kill him solely because he unintentionally discovers the truth. Along the way, Hester and Tom are hunted by Valentine and an undead hunter called Shrike (played by Stephen Lang) and end up allied with a woman named Anna Fang (played by Jihae). This is movie is based on a book, and I have never read it. So, I can’t really speak to this movie’s authenticity or accuracy to its source material. When I talk about this movie, take both my praises and my criticisms with a grain of salt, especially if you are a fan of the book. There are a lot of elements to this movie I enjoy. The movie is really cool from a visual standpoint. The cities actually look pretty creative. I love that London is sort of this giant take that essentially devours other cities. The cast is pretty good too. The actors are clearly trying. Hilmar and Weaving are the two who truly stand out the most. From a character standpoint, Hester Shaw is probably the best character in the film. We do get a sympathetic backstory for her. However, at this point, I think it is necessary to start addressing this movie’s flaws. While we do have a sympathetic backstory for our heroine, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. They also reveal a twist at the end of the movie. This is a twist that is simultaneously is predictable and comes out of nowhere. More than that, the filmmakers kind of throw it in with a throwaway line. The action in the movie works for the most part. A lot of the action is crisp and clear. The one point where it doesn’t work for me is the final fight scene. If there is one fight I truly think should have been easy to see, it was the final fight between hero and villain. Story-wise, this isn’t really anything new. You have a hero with a tragic past. You have a revenge element. I will give the movie props for sidestepping the whole love triangle thing. Unfortunately, there are points where it can feel like there is too much going on at once. The movie can also feel like it just sort of moves from plot point to plot point just because. Overall, Mortal Engines was solid, popcorn fun, even if it had some obvious flaws. 

7 / 10