Tuesday 11 December 2018

Film Review: Mortal Engines

Mortal Engines
10 December 2018
128 mins
PG-13
Christian Rivers (Director) 
Hera Hilmar, Hugo Weaving, Robert Sheehan
Fantasy/Adventure

A mysterious young woman named Hester Shaw joins forces with Anna Fang, a dangerous outlaw with a bounty on her head, and Tom Natsworthy, an outcast from London, to lead a rebellion against a giant predator city on wheels. (IMDB Synopsis)

I have not yet read the Mortal Engines series by Philip Reeve, so I went into the cinema with no expectations. The opening of this movie is awesome. It's a wonderful, theatrical, high-excitement sequence that also allows for plenty of early world building without too much exposition. And after that? I wouldn't say the film completely lives up to that amazing beginning. It has good effects and some nice moments, but once that initial chase scene is over, it does become fairly predictable in its beats. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as it will certainly tick all the boxes for fans of this type of story. I found it highly entertaining and good fun, but it didn't manage to blow me away (except for those opening scenes). As for performances, I thought everyone did well in their roles, but, again, no one particularly caught my attention. I would definitely watch it again, but I won't be rushing out to buy the DVD the second it releases. This was a strong 3.5 stars, but I couldn't quite bring myself to give it four.

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