MORTAL ENGINES

                      Mortal Engines: An Enjoyable Movie Without A Beginning!

Hundreds of years after civilization was destroyed by a cataclysmic event, a mysterious young woman, Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar), emerges as the only one who can stop London, now a giant, predator city on wheels, from devouring everything in its path. Feral, and fiercely driven by the memory of her mother, Hester joins forces with Tom Natsworthy (Robert Sheehan), an outcast from London, along with Anna Fang (Jihae), a dangerous outlaw with a bounty on her head.

It is always so sad when a movie fails not for its lack of concept or for its lack of superior content, but fails for that little thing called creative storytelling. This movie had everything to make it great, it had the concept, it had the cast, it had a good conflict, albeit a simple one and it had good visual effect management. What the movie however did lack is the creativity in telling the story, the decision to commence the movie from the midpoint of conflict is ridiculous. It has never worked and it hardly ever gives room for characters to develop around the theme. It always creates a situation where the conflict is set in stone even before the characters get enough screen time to develop around the plot! This decision makes the movie feel like a sequel, rather than a first movie. The decision is curious and a little confusing.

The movie at least did have very high moments. It delivered some euphoric scenes, and even though the characters came off a little more unrelatable than relatable (due to an apparent lack of back story), if the producers decide to run this for a sequel, we won't say no. 

The movie also delivered action, good CGI use and good dialogue. The only things missing from this movie are creative storytelling and good character and plot development. In the absence of the latter, the movie always comes off looking like a rush job, and it seems we got a lot of those towards the tail end of 2018.
  To drive the point home, there was no need why Hester Shaw already had a target to go for if the reason for her vendetta had not been properly explored. Moreover ,there was no proper setting for the movie to occur in, the pre movie Credit scenes did not do justice to the development of the scene, and characters cannot come upon conflicts like they were happening upon lost items. It really doesn't leave much room for the producers to maneuver and it's clear from the movie that it suffered as a result of it. The conflict was one sided, and the plot lopsided.
  The acting was nothing exceptional, Hester Shaw( Hera), Tom (Robert Sheehan) and Anna Fang (Jihae), were not exceptional. They did well, but not admirably exceptional. At least they did deliver some good dialogues and conversational mastery.
  The Costuming team did good work as well I must mention. The costumes and the make up were not overly elaborate, like we have come to realise, moderation and simplicity is regal most often than not, and here it did pay dividends. 

  Overall, this is a totally enjoyable movie, that kept the viewing audience really intrigued and engrossed. I must admit it is a deeply immersive and satisfying watch, it only becomes weird when you realise there may be a sequel or a spin off, then you begin to wonder where it would pick up from, and upon what foundation will it stand?
  Only the critics will find issues with the movie, but for an avid lover of the post apocalyptic action genre, this movie will definitely interest you. It had its very high moments, and quite frankly the movie was paced at a very high setting. Quite impressive.
We will recommend this movie to our readers for the fun of it, the concept and the action sequences. We would also recommend this for its near perfect employment of good visual effects and fight choreography. It's not an exceptional movie, neither is it a very poor movie but it's  just an enjoyable viewing piece.
I particularly liked the introduction of a surprise element in the form of Shrike, even though in the long run that angle was not very well explored for it to be successful, but all the same it's a welcome development.

Directed by: Christian Rivers
Produced by: Zane Weiner, Amanda Walker, Deborah Forte, Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson
Screenplay by: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson
Based on: Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve
Starring:
Hugo Weaving
Hera Hilmar
Robert Sheehan
Jihae
Ronan Raftery
Leila George
Patrick Malahide
Stephen Lang

Cinematography: Simon Raby
Edited by: Jonno Woodford-Robinson
Production company: Universal Pictures, Media Rights Capital, WingNut Films
Distributed by: Universal Pictures.

FCA's AppR: 6.2/10