Mortal Engines
2018 · Directed by Christian Rivers
Original language: English
- adventure
- science fiction
The story
Many thousands of years in the future, Earth’s cities roam the globe on huge wheels, devouring each other in a struggle for ever diminishing resources. On one of these massive traction cities, the old London, Tom Natsworthy has an unexpected encounter with a mysterious young woman from the wastelands who will change the course of his life forever.
What it’s like
Huge rusted machinery under grey, smoke-streaked skies: the look is steampunk maximalism, with cathedral-scale city engines lurching across muddy plains, gears and tracks filling the frame, and sweeping digital aerials that dwarf the human figures below. The palette runs to ochre, slate, oil-black and bruised orange sunsets, with flickers of warm lamplight in cramped interiors and bleached, bone-white wastelands that feel empty and cold. Camera moves are big and kinetic, with swooping flyovers and chase sequences that favour spectacle over stillness, and the score is orchestral and bombastic, built for the wide screen. The mood is restless and sweeping, a blend of wonder and grim, post-apocalyptic melancholy, with a steady current of pursuit and betrayal. Violence is frequent and fairly brutal, including battle scenes, falls, and hand-to-hand combat, though it stays largely bloodless and PG-13 in tone. It suits a weekend afternoon when you want big set pieces and a rousing, fast-moving adventure, and it will appeal to fans of young-adult dystopia and viewers who enjoy grand, mechanical world-building.
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