Movie Reviews 4/5: Mortal Engines

Fun Despite Numerous Story Flaws

Summary: (spoilers after ads)

This is a young adult post-apocalypse sci-fi adventure. It’s also a book adaptation. I have not read the book, and I have no intention of doing so. That said, the world came across cool and the movie ended up being entertaining.

 Additional Comments:

• Characters 3.5/5: Hester and Tom didn’t have great chemistry, but the circumstances are suitably grim to be believable. There are many other really interesting characters on the sides. Shrike could probably have his own movie. Valentine’s motivations aren’t terribly clear. Is it all just a power trip? Anna clearly has more of a story behind her.
• Plot 3.5/5: The timing seems awfully rushed. The whole movie probably covers a span of 2 days. It goes from one event to another through a series of crazy coincidences. More on that later.
• Chase Scenes 4/5: Very sweet.
• Visuals/World-building 5/5: Although not a world I would like to live in, some pieces of what’s there are absolutely gorgeous. If nothing else, it’s often pretty.
• Costumes 4/5: The London people certainly took notes from the Hunger Games elite. Even the slavers had a penchant for too much rouge.  
• With all these complaints, why do I still like it? There are elements of great stories in here. The opening scene reminded me of Rogue One where Cassian is movie day through the city to meet the informant.

Conclusion:

Worth seeing once for the pretty visuals.

Associate links to follow…

(If you click through and buy something, there’s the chance I’ll earn like $0.04 ….)

Amazon Prime

The Collins Case – 2 FBI agents track down a kidnapped family. Kid friendly.

If fantasy’s more your thing, go Redeemer Chronicles. The first, Awakening, is available as an audiobook.

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – a kid deals with her parents’ divorce, bullies, and the wonder of discovery.

Try The Dark Side of Science – Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.

OR

SPOILERS

Places the Logic Broke Down/Crazy Coincidences:

(Some might be explained in the book.)

• Hester’s quest to kill Valentine. Seems like a heck of a lot of effort to go to for a chance at stabbing the dude.
• Valentine being at the intake area for the new haul/being in stabbing range.
• Valentine throws if Tom in makes perfect sense, but his friend just happens to be a witness. And Kate just happens to see that he’s a witness.
• Shrike’s quest to kill Hester. That’s quite a bit of emotion for a zombie machine.
• They didn’t all pass out in the floating city.
• Anna Fang’s group goes to a lot of effort to find Hester like 8 years after. How would they even know there’s still a threat from London?
• Hester happens to choose the one machine part of the trade city that broke down enough to be caught. If she sabotaged it to get caught, that’s messed up.
• Running around the outlands from Southie machines trying to kill them the heroes just happen to get caught by slavers.
• Anna Fang found Hester at the slave market.
• They sent Hester to disable the machine and not Tom.
• Tom knows how to fly a ship.
• Anna trusts him enough to let him handle her airship.
• Shrike finds Hester on the airship city. If he could find her that fast, why the heck did he not find and kill her in the last however many years it’s been?
• Valentine has enough clout to kill everyone in the engine room. Why was ramming the shield wall even an option? Was there even an order for then to do that?
• Hester being Valentine’s daughter. Cliche. That man has serious daughter issues.
• Hester and Valentine getting into a brawl… how did she even know where to find him?
• Hester and Tom flying off into the sunset so to speak. Stressful situations can form bonds, but straight to I wanna be trapped in a tiny flying thing with you is a big step. Also, why is the airship even theirs to keep? Did Anna not have any kin? Does finders keepers rule the world?
• In 1000 years, I would expect they moved beyond steam-belching, garbage-eating machines.

Amusing Moments:

• London Museum – American deities being minions.
• Food of the ancients being indestructible. (Twinkies)
• Anna Fang “I’m not that subtle.”