Starring: Hera Hilmar, Hugo Weaving, Jihae, Robert Sheehan, Stephen Lang, Leila George, Colin Salmon
Director: Christian Revers
Release date: previews begin 8th December 2018
It’s the 23rd Century and the Earth is poisoned. After the ‘60second war’, the planet is ravaged and desolate but is very slowly recovering.. Cities now exist as mobile machines, with its people living on constantly moving vessels. London has become a vast and feared nation and goes around ‘ingesting’ other cities and their people. Thaddeus Valentine (Hugo Weaving) is in charge of London and is a troubled man. His daughter, Katherine (Leila George) is a kind and caring girl and has a friend called Tom (Robert Sheehan). Tom works in the London Museum and rescues ‘artefacts’ from the past that he thinks are extremely precious. One day, London is chasing down a rival city and the chase is violent and reckless. There can only be one winner though and soon the fight is over. A young girl called Hester Shaw, from the captured city, is on a desperate mission and will not stop until she has caught her prey. Who is she searching for and why?
Based on the bestselling books by Philip Reeve, ‘Mortal Engines’ is the first in a collection of four novels called the ‘Mortal Engines Quartet’. Then there’s ‘Predator’s Gold’, ‘Infernal Devices’ and ‘A Darkling Plain’. First book was published back in 2001, and they tell the story of a post-apocalyptic world that has evolved into a bunch of ’Traction Cities’. London is the major one and society has been divided into ‘tiers’ for each class of society. Resources are scarce and so the cities must envelop others so as to keep running and surviving.
Coming in at just over two hours, ‘Mortal Engines’ is a long old movie, but surprisingly it doesn’t feel that way. Visually stunning from the get-go, it’s an adventure on a level that you might not have witnessed in the past. The scale of everything is huge and a lot of the time you almost feel as though you are on the traction engine itself.
Renowned Director, Peter Jackson is heavily involved in this movie, and knowing this fact will give you an idea of the scale of this production. Filmed in New Zealand, it’s kind of on a par with the Lord of the Rings movies visually and as an action/ fantasy/dystopian type movie, it will definitely appeal to a teenage+ audience. Rated 12a, ‘Mortal Engines’ is going to be a big hit during the Christmas market of movies and might just give parents a bit of bonding time with their teenage kids.
If you love your movies vast, loud and with a distinct dystopian twist, give ‘Mortal Engines’ a viewing. A great bit of escapism on a cold evening, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Overall: 8.5/10
