Mortal Engines 2018 Directed by Christian Rivers
Many thousands of years in the future, Earth’s cities roam the globe on huge wheels, devouring each other in a struggle for ever diminishing resources. On one of these massive traction cities, the old London, Tom Natsworthy has an unexpected encounter with a mysterious young woman from the wastelands who will change the course of his life forever.
Hera Hilmar Robert Sheehan Hugo Weaving Jihae Ronan Raftery Leila George Patrick Malahide Stephen Lang Colin Salmon Mark Mitchinson Regé-Jean Page Menik Gooneratne Frankie Adams Leifur Sigurdarson Kahn West Andrew Lees Sophie Cox Kee Chan Sarah Peirse Mark Hadlow Caren Pistorius Poppy Macleod Joel Tobeck Terry Norris Calum Gittins Megan Edwards Peter Rowley Aaron Jackson Stephen Ure Show All…
“Mortal Engines” might not be a particularly good movie, but it’s a BIG one, and sometimes that can be even more important. Adapted (on steroids) from Philip Reeves’ neo-Victorian steampunk fantasy of the same name, this $100 million holiday-season event starts off like a supersized remake of “Fury Road,” as two mobile cities shoot massive harpoons at each other in a death race through the post-apocalyptic wastelands of Europe as Junkie XL’s bombastic score yowls in the background. Yes, mobile cities. One of them is London, and the other is a quaint mining colony that doesn’t have a name worth remembering; they travel on giant turrets, stretch a mile into the sky, and mulch each other for fuel.
This —…
I was so bored during this movie I spent most of the last act trying to figure out the last movie that was this big that was also this bad. The answer I settled on was Battlefield Earth.
Full review at ScreenCrush.
I'm still a little fuzzy on why the apocalypse meant the cities had to be on wheels but also please don't bother explaining it to me if you know. Anyway with its goofass steampunk tech and airships and tragic robot men and dynastic tale of revenge and elaborate backstory and on and on, this reminded me more than anything else of classic Final Fantasy, except the painstaking and incremental progress of both the characters' journeys and the narrative itself is crammed into a hectic, convoluted two hours instead of playing out over hours a day for weeks. Personally I prefer something this unabashedly dorky to really swing for it, be little more virtuosic, so I'll be over here rewatching JUPITER ASCENDING.
Tatsächlich deutlich besser als die grausigen Trailer erwarten ließen. Sehr fantasievolles Produktionsdesign, schön gefilmte Action, tolle Panoramen und Setpieces machen eine wirklich spaßige erste Filmhälfte aus. Die unzähligen Klischees, blassen Figuren und das penetrant-aufdringliche Foreshadowing fallen da kaum ins Gewicht.
Leider schwächelt der hintere Part dann zunehmend. Der Ideenraub im übrigen Blockbuster-Oeuvre wird dann überdeutlich, die Handlung kommt zum erliegen, weil alles nur noch überlanger Showdown ist und am Ende will der Film dann einfach nicht enden.
Für eine Buchvorlage hat das hier alles relativ wenig Fleisch auf den Rippen - die Welt von „Mortal Engines“ scheint durchaus reichhaltig zu sein, viel zu sehen bekommt man aber nicht. Dafür bekommt die simple Rachestory einfach zu viel Raum. Aber immerhin - Potential für Fortsetzungen wäre da, wenn das hier an der Kinokasse funktioniert...wovon ich nicht ausgehe...
Der Look ist überwältigend, der Detailreichtum, die Innovation der wandernden Städte etc. einfach WOW. und dann wenn man sich irgendwann sattgesehen hat beginnt die Ernüchterung und man bemerkt, dass all der ganze Pomp nur über eine recht dünne Story und mittelmäßige Darsteller hinwegtäuschen. Die Action rockt fett, der Sound ballert und visuell überragend, das hatte für mich genug Gewicht, über das Andere hinwegzusehen. Ich fand den Film unterhaltsam, aber auch ein wenig zu hastig. Vieles hätte ich gern etwas besser erklärt bekommen und vor allem zum Ende kommt einem doch einiges bekannt vor. Einige Nebengeschichten waren großartig und hätten mehr Screentime verdient gehabt, anderes hat mich nicht interessiert, vor allem die Wahl der Darsteller war negativ, weil teilweise unglaubwürdig.
Insgesamt…
Definitely some fun to be had. Who doesn’t love Hugo Weaving in an epic sci-fi fantasy world? Fair warning though, it’s pretty unbalanced. The ambitious and imaginative action sequences are often undercut with logic gaps, bland performances, and tone deaf emotionality.
Cool special effects attempting to cover a super-thin plot. The movie wastes no time establishing characters so we don't really have great reasons to cheer for people other than 'they look cool' or 'she is obviously the protagonist'.
I don’t like reviewing movies that I didn’t really pay attention to, but I was excited about watching this... half way through I had wondered into doing something else in the room, looking up occasionally because it wasn’t awful, but losing track as it all seemed oddly full.
A movie about cities on wheels eating other wheeled-cities has no right being this boring.
It's bolstered considerably by some incredible craftsmanship. The production design is top-notch, consisting of sets that feel tactile, and visually distinctive. The art direction is vibrant and kooky in ways few blockbuster films are willing to attempt. The use of visual effects never feels gratuitous, mostly used to create images that would be near impossible to replicate using practical effects. It's honestly admirable how much thought and work was put into creating the world of Mortal Engines.
It's too bad all this effort is wasted on a plodding, and cliched story heavy on exposition, yet devoid of suspense or pathos. The characters are either one-dimensional,…
Harmless but also, completely charmless. Seems to exist solely to fulfil some financial obligation, like to lighten a tax burden or something.
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This list is for scripts or source material written or co-written by women. Recs welcome!
Of interest: letterboxd.com/film/without-lying-down-frances-marion-and-the-power-of-women-in-hollywood/
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