Mortal Engines

Starring: Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Hugo Weaving, Jihae, Ronan Raftery, Leila George, Patrick Malahide, Stephen Lang
Directed by: Christian Rivers
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
2018

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A girl (Hera Hilmar) uncovers a vast conspiracy in a post-apocalyptic Europe as she dives into her mysterious past.

Review:

Tim: Another attempt at a Young Adult Fantasy series, another failure. To be fair, Mortal Engines is better than some similar wannabes (looking at you, The Mortal Instruments. However, it's a Pyrrhic victory. It might not be the worst YA fantasy film, but it's not nearly memorable enough. While it does have a few unexpected strengths, this is still a disappointment and a certifiable box office bomb. Despite a few cool aspects of the movie, this is another potential franchise dead on arrival.

The visual effects were definitely a big selling point here. I have to admit, seeing enormous mobile cities is certainly a cool, original sight. The physics of it doesn't quite work, but it's so fun to see these gigantic city vehicles tearing around the European countryside. One of the earliest scenes is one of the best- we see the massive city vehicle of London chasing a much smaller one. This was probably the highlight of the film for me. It looked incredible and it offered us something we haven't seen a hundred times before. Unfortunately, after this scene is over, the rest of the movie settles into cliched, well-worn YA book adaptation territory. It's all quite lackluster.

The cast is a bit all over the place. I loved the casting of Hugo Weaving and he gives a strong performance. He doesn't have enough to do and despite some flashes of originality, his character becomes predictable and cliched. Still, Weaving is a great actor and he elevates the role and the movie by himself. He's definitely a shining star in this movie. I thought Jihae did a good job, too. I have no idea who she is, but she was memorable in her supporting role.

Hera Hilmar felt like a complete miscasting as Hester Shaw. I never read the book, so maybe fans would think she was perfect, but as someone who didn't have an image of Hester before watching this film, I was mostly underwhelmed by her performance. I just didn't see enough charisma or a spark that made me interested in her character. She might have talent as an actress, but it didn't really show up here. She's one of the least compelling heroines in these YA book adaptations that I've seen. Robert Sheehan was similar. There wasn't anything especially bad about his performance, but it was just so forgettable. He never made the character feel original or important. It felt cliched and redundant. I don't think Sheehan had great chemistry with Hilmar. It felt so bizarre to me to see these two cast as the leads. I believe the movie is hurt significantly as a result. When the supporting cast feels far stronger than the leads, you are going to have issues.

The story probably lost something in the move from the page to the screen. The whole mystery felt underwhelming to me. There's this MEDUSA device and the bad guys want to use it as a weapon and the good guys want to stop them. It didn't feel like anything we haven't seen a hundred times before. It's told in a fine way- I don't want you to think the movie is terrible, it just feels completely stale. At this point, we've had so many of these movies that it's no longer enough just to get the adaptation made. There's questions like "Why did this movie need to be made?" or "What is unique about this film?" or "What does this film have to say?" Unfortunately, Mortal Engines isn't able to deliver sufficiently effective answers to these questions. This ends up feeling like another film heavy on the visual effects and light on actual storytelling and character development. I do wonder how I'd feel if I read the book. I have to admit, the film throws a lot at you. It wasn't easy trying to immerse myself into this world. The reanimated cyborg things never really connected with me. It felt like they were introduced in a haphazard way and it felt like an ultimately unsatisfying subplot. I might feel different if I was familiar with the source material. That being said, there wasn't enough in this film to induce me to go read the book.

I know this film had the backing of Peter Jackson and maybe some of his genius leaks through here and there. Unfortunately, the snazzy special effects don't save a film that is ultimately hollow and stale. Mortal Engines is a forgettable film that moves down a well-worn path. There's far too many YA book adaptations that are far superior to this one. It might be a decent movie, but that's not enough.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Divergent, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, The Maze Runner