A Wild Dystopian Fantasy Epic of a Thrill Ride I read Philip Reeve's novel; 'Mortal Engines' a year ago, mainly when I heard the news about Peter Jackson; the man behind the 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Hobbit' film franchises announced he and his team would produce a big budget film adaptation of the book. While the directorial reigns for the film were given to his long time colleague; Christian Rivers, who did most of the storyboard art for Jackson's films since 1992's 'Braindead' (or 'Dead Alive'), Rivers also has an Oscar to his name for 'Best Achievement in Visual Effects' for 2005's 'King Kong', some short film credits and worked as an Assistant Director on Jackson's 'Hobbit' films.
'Mortal Engines' is the first of a four book series which can described as being a post-apocalyptic steampunk fantasy, largely aimed at Young Adult audiences.
Personally speaking, what I loved about the book wasn't just the unique world it's set in, but also how within all the madness of this obscure society involving Traction Cities, Airships and a whole load of weird contraptions; could involve some great plotting and compelling characters in an action packed thrill ride of an adventure that also displayed a unique sense of authenticity and cultural backdrops that felt fresh for any sort of dystopian sci-fi or fantasy novel.
The opening sequence involves London one of biggest Predator Cities hunting upon the desolate former European continent chases down a smaller city for it's consumption. While, it's been common since the original 'Star Wars' film was released, grabbing the audience's attention for such a spectacle is an easy method of engagement, especially with big transports hunting smaller ones.
The main characters include; Hester Shaw (Hera Himler) a mysterious girl with a scarf covering her face, whose intentions are just mysterious as she appears. Also, there's Tom Natsworthy (Robert Sheehan), a city boy who works as a historian's apprentice in the London Museum, keeping old relics and artefacts in shape from a civilization long gone. Then there's Thaddeus Valentine (Hugo Weaving) the Head Archaeologist of London, whose high statue and demeanour commands great respect among the hierarchy of London's Elizabethan class system aboard the traction city.
Once the smaller town has been consumed by London, Tom goes down to salvage any relics or artefacts the consumed cities have been carrying, proving that one's trash might be another person's treasure. Meanwhile, the mysterious Hester goes in towards Valentine to exact her vengeance, while Tom stops her from committing the assassination not sure what's this is all about. After chasing her through the bellies and digestive clutter of mechanics of London's engines feeding off the consumed city, Tom then becomes aware of Hester's vengeance when her scarred face is revealed behind her scarf, before she jumps out of London's waste tunnel. While Valentine's wounds aren't fatal, he's glad to see the young man in good shape, yet in this small moment his ugly side is revealed proving Hester's words were right and in an effort to silence any other rumours about his more supposed secretive and devious intentions or any other ugly history, Valentine pushes Tom over the edge of the waste tunnel and out into the wasteland.
It's here, the city boy whose enjoyed the company of respectable civilization on a traction city, becomes a 'fish out of the water' being exposed to the madness of the wastelands/hunting grounds. But, more importantly must put his trust in Hester; a young woman he has no reason to, even if they both must stick together to survive the dangers of the wasteland or the world for that matter, together. Their adventure then unfolds as they traverse across the wastelands and in the air upon airships encountering many different quirky, dangerous and imposing characters.
A few other characters worth mentioning are Anna Fang (Jihae) an imposing aviator whose prowess and badass demeanour could give characters like Imperator Furiosa and Han Solo a run for their money. She quickly becomes Tom and Hester's ally abroad her brightly red airship; the 'Jenny Haniver', she's also the leader of a group called the Anti-Tractionists, who're purely against the use of traction cities. But the most menacing and intimidating of them all is Shrike (Stephen Lang) a Stalker, AKA a resurrected man whose mind is twisted into a menacing killing machine and whose organic organs have been replaced with that of ancient robotics making him and imposing cyborg almost akin to the 'Terminator.' His role is more of a side story that's largely connected to that of Hester's past and there's never a dull moment with Shrike, as Lang makes the character stand out as a piece of the horrific technology who will stop at nothing until he gets what he wants.
While Sheehan, Himler and Weaving keep the main plot in focus. It's Jihae and Lang who provide the story's catalysts pushing the plot into more maddening compelling territory full of danger and excitement. Other supporting acting roles serve the story adequately well too, in correspondence to the book's would take me a longer to analyse than what I think is more important. Other than the fact their brief appearances are clearly defined well enough to thank the film-making team to stand out.
One of the biggest comparisons I can draw from 'Mortal Engines' especially in how a post-apocalyptic scenario involving high stakes action displayed on such huge spectacle, is obviously going to be 'Mad Max: Fury Road.' It should come to no surprise that when spectacle is more of a forefront to a film, it comes more into focus than the characters involved in the plot. But much like 'Fury Road' the characters are compelling enough to make their motivations clear. However, if it weren't for the gifted performers bringing the characters up front within the film's plot it wouldn't be so much about their 'personal story' than what the world's premise would promise and there's so much life in the world, it's hard not to be invested.
Also, much like 'Fury Road' and Jackson's other films for that matter, including the other films he produced such as Neil Blomkamp's 'District 9' and Steven Spielberg's 'The Adventures of Tintin', the breath, dimension and vision they brought towards the world of 'Mortal Engines' stands out so well on the big screen, it's no wonder how much passion was shown for bringing to life such an unique world filled to the brim with authentic set-pieces and thrilling special effects that WETA Workshop are so capable of delivering.
I've comes to expect differences from adaptations of many kinds. So it wasn't surprising to me there were many liberties taken when comparing the book and film differences. I'm glad to say the film stood out incredibly well as being the same story Philip Reeve wrote in his book all those years ago and stands out incredibly well on screen thanks to the devotion and dedication the filmmakers have made to such a project. One not being too much like the other but stands out enough that if you've read the book or if you haven't, it's safe to recommend.
However, while this may easily be one of favourite films of 2018. It's not without its flaws, some of the exposition on certain objects and concepts in the film serves too much of a crash course to viewers as if we're going to expect some of that to play into the plot later, it unsurprisingly does. The third act climax also places a lot of certain McGuffins easily placed throughout the film find their place used adequately. There's even a number of flashback sequences focusing on Hester's past, although they're serviceable enough, they could have been lessened, which would have given the films mysteries more thought than experiments the viewers would pick up on later. Even with all its flaws, I accept the film for what it is. If audiences are going to find unusual parallels to other franchises? you can't deny the fact the film is hugely 'unique' and should be a focus for a new film franchise.
Overall, Think 'Mad Max: Fury Road' mixed with some of the best aspects of franchises such as 'Harry Potter', 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Star Wars' and that's 'Mortal Engines' in a nutshell. While Peter Jackson's other cinematic efforts may raise expectations, I highly implore viewers to make up their own minds, perhaps it'll get them to read the books. It's the story of a young man who despite coming from the comforts of city life, discovers his bravery and purpose in a world full of madness and chaos with having to trust a woman who despite the resentments of her past upbringing has to overcome her motivations by connecting to others who give her life more meaning. While that's the personal story of 'Mortal Engines' within it's heart, it's the exciting spectacle and unique world with the compelling characters that make the film a significant achievement for Christian Rivers and Peter Jackson. It's an incredibly 'Wild Dystopian Fantasy Epic of a Thrill Ride' that I had a great time watching and can't wait to see it again, along with the potential sequels of three more books to be adapted from the series.