Mortal Engines
A visual masterpiece with an underwhelming story. - 6.5/10
by Francesco Bakhos - 365 Movies Lebanon
"And now i can face anything as long as my spirit is free." - Anna Fang.
Mortal Engines follows the story of a mysterious young woman named Hester Shaw, who joins forces with Anna Fang, a dangerous outlaw with a bounty on her head and Tom Natsworthy, an outcast from London, to lead a rebellion against a giant predator city on wheels.
This big screen adaptation of the same-titled novel by Philip Reeve is a visual masterpiece that has the ability to transport you into a dystopian world filled with large cities, moving vehicules and yellow minions.
Totally surpassing my expectations, this movie is an enjoyable ride that needed some extra fixing. Lord of the rings director, Christian Rivers's Mortal Engines is a roller-coaster of pure imagery perfection and inconsistent/weak story/plot.
On one hand, we have a very fragile script with an underdeveloped story. Don't get me wrong, i actually believe that this story had potentials but first of all it lacked a lot of necessary details especially during the first few acts and of course THE BACKSTORY. Plus, it was predictable from the very beginning, this was one of the main factors that might prevented this movie from being a total blockbuster. In addition, it contained alot of useless subplots that actually (Fact) downgraded the whole essence of this film, at the end it was a simple revenge story that we'll forget in no time.
The characters were one-dimensional and extremely superficial. There wasn't any depth or emotions, its like they were transformed into the very same emotionless engines they were trying to battle.
But on the other hand, the cinematography, the costumes, the CGI/special effects were the highlights of this film. Every frame feels like a painting in one of the worlds most luxurious museums. And every battle scene managed to take my breath away with its intensity and magnitude.
Mortal Engines is a world of colors worth visiting. Let's not forget about the cast : Hugo Weaving and Jihae were superb, they absolutely dominated the screen.But unfortunately the protagonists were not up to the challenge and failed to be the center of attention.
At the end of the day, if you're looking for an eye candy kind of movie with a mediocre story than Mortal Engines is the right choice.
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