Christian River's Mortal Engines Movie (2018) | 2021 Review

Thank God It's Friday

It was a slow day, but I had an early start to the weekend - binge-watching movies and eating chips. There might also be an unlimited supply of #coffee brewing on the sidelines if my plan goes well.

As luck would have it, my not-so-busy schedule got better and I did not have to go and make a run to the grocery, or not until tomorrow anyway.

Being the movie-loving couch potato that I am, I watched the Mortal Engines Movie from 2018. My wife suggested we watch this because she was not able to finish it last night and wanted to finish to make room for a new title that we can see later in the night.

Basically, this is a post-dystopian movie set thousands of years in the future where wheeled cities roam the earth compete for limited resources; the bigger the city, the more resources needed to make it run. Similar to today's world, the bigger cities easily catch the little towns for fuel or to rummage for valuable antiques.

As the story goes, London engulfs a small mining town where Hester Shaw (actress Hera Hilmar) lives. In stark contrast with the other residents, Hester wants to be captured by the giant London on-wheels so she can get revenge for her mother's death. This deeply personal motive, which has haunted her since she was 8 years old, and almost succeeds were it not for Tom Natsworthy (actor Robert Sheehan) who gets himself involved in a rebellious group led by Anna Fang (actress Jihae), a strong-willed aviator who knew Hester's mother and has been looking for her for quite a while.

Then there's Shrike, the Resurrected Man, well, I don't really get it. He seems out of place for me. An unnecessary character is woven into the story because of his connection to Hester Shaw and something that shows the heartless dystopian environment.

In my view, the strong-willed characters play out their part just right; making for a neat storyline that ends up with a happy ending after the conspiracy is stopped. There were bumps (pun intended) in the screenplay that really took away from the overall experience for me but still worth it.

After the battle, Hester and Tom emerge with a newfound freedom to explore the world and live happily ever after, end of the story.

The visual effects were great. One of the smoothest I've seen and makes you feel the reality of the situation. The sceneries made me feel like I want to go to that place and just enjoy sightseeing. This was the best part of the movie for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the visuals.

Well, you've made it up to the end of my short review of this movie. I like steampunk and dystopian movies in general and this falls in the middle of the pack. I would say that it's a 6 out of 10.

Have a great weekend everyone!

@juanvegetarian