Welcome one and all to part 23 of my weekly blog, The 52 In 52. Before I begin I want to encourage you to check out last weeks post on the thriller, Julia's Eyes and also having a look through past articles I've written on my Homepage. As always the concept is simple, I have a lot of DVDs and Blu Rays, some of which have sat on my shelf gathering dust. Every week this year I watch one film I've never seen and review it for all of you to read.
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This week I am writing about Mortal Engines. Released at the tale end of 2018, Mortal Engines was produced by Peter Jackson and directed by long time Jackson collaborator Christian Rivers. There are a lot of relative unknowns in Mortal Engines including lead actor Hera Hilmar who plays Hester Shaw, a revolutionary fighting against the oppressive Thaddeus Valentine (Hugo Weaving) the mayor of the now traction city of London. The world engaged in a sixty minute conflict and now the major cities of the world are now mobile and hunt smaller cities to absorb them. Hester meets Tom Natsworthy, an archaeologist who discovers the dark truth behind Valentine and his plans for London. Hester and Tom look for fellow anti tractionists to finally reveal the truth behind the mysterious MEDUSA weapon.
I really enjoyed Mortal Engines however I felt that it was not without its flaws. The visual effects are spectacular throughout. The design of London is very steam punk and mechanical and felt almost other worldly. The action sequences are well produced and begin fairly early into the film. The final action sequence is suspenseful and really rounds out the story in a way that is satisfying. There are a few times that the moving cities are referred to as almost living, animal creatures especially when the furnace sections of London are referred to as the gut of the city and the fuel is feeding the city.
The acting is decent enough. Hera Hilmar is engaging as Hester starting with a mysterious, coldness and over time she shows vulnerability and strength in equal measure. Robert Sheehan is fine as Tom but, I felt he was a little one dimensional. Hugo Weaving is just as good as every other Hugo Weaving villain character although I felt he was a little under utilised. I would have loved to have seen more from Jihae (Anna Fang) as I felt she was built well but, didn't really get the screen time she deserved.
For all it's merits Mortal Engines falls a little flat in places. The dialogue feels a little cliched at times, almost like it followed the young adult guide book too much. I felt that the story moved at such a fast pace that there were story strands that couldn't be followed through properly and felt a little under whelming, especially the story of the relationship between Shrike and Hester.
Overall I felt that Mortal Engines was a real mixed bag. The visuals and acting from the main cast were the real positives of the film keeping me engaged. The story pacing and dialogue was a little cliched and a little melodramatic at times. I would suggest you at least give it a chance as a lazy day film.
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