It's a steampunky movie released just too late, with an odd trailer style.
Not doing well critically, and is the Titanic if the box office was an iceberg.
But I loved it!!!
My wife and I saw it on Christmas (a "best of the worst" choice, seeing as we'd already seen Into the Spider-Verse and Fantastic Beasts). We didn't want to see Aqua Man or Bumblebee. She literally zones out during action scenes and AngryJoeShow told me the former is 99% action and the latter somehow didn't even get its own formula right. I kinda wanted to see Welcome to Marwin, but I read some bad reviews and it doesn't seem cheerful. Her movie, Mary Queen of Scots, just doesn't exist at any theater in our area (Cincinnati/Newport) which is a bummer. I told her we'd Vudu that one...
Anyways...Mortal Engines got to play in the game as a result.
Some people say the emotional resonance just isn't there, the plot doesn't make sense, but 1) I went into it with zero expectations and 2) it was a fun movie. I liked the automaton/terminator character and the movie checked all the marks. It felt like a weird mix of Valerian/Star Wars meets Steampunk.
Maybe it's because I don't take movies as seriously anymore. Nothing shocked me, pretty predictable stuff, but kind of classic/tropey in a good way? The two leads I thought did a good job, much better than DeHaan/Delevingne in Valerian and I felt that the fact of this movie having no big names except for Weaving in it (probably a dumb move, box office wise) worked for it. The camerawork was nice, nothing really fancy but a little bit of flair, figures since it was done by some dude in the New Zealand Cinematographers Society. The special effects were abundant, with some looking better than others which is the norm, so it was a nice movie to look at and that always scores big points for me.
The pathos, the ending, the romance (normally I hate romances in movies, but this felt like a natural one in a world that doesn't really seem to invite romance). I'm kinda intrigued to read the books now.
Most importantly? I'm buying this freaking movie. I honestly can't wait to watch it again. It was just so neat. It's rare for a movie to strike me that way, a movie that has moments that I know are coming but that I would look forward to. Not saying this movie is sci-fi, but after seeing all these trailers in these new trips we've made to the theater recently, it seems to be a renaissance of sorts which is very cool to a moviegoer like me. I loved all the modern day references in this movie and the world building. Twinkies, Minions, the eBay auction where the lady goes "I'll just Buy It Now," good stuff...
☆☆☆ for me.
A shame that Bumblebee and Aqua Man have no problem making money. AngryJoeShow pointed out the lack of butts in the seats at his showing, and there were only three other people other than my wife and me. No bueno. Wrong release date, for sure, marketing, and hey, not saying this is a masterpiece...I'd say it's even better than John Carter (buzzword comparison).
TL/DR - Mortal Engines. Ya loved it? Ya hated it? I want to know, guys!
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"They knew and they let it happen! To kids!"-Spotlight
https://tinyurl.com/ruffalospotlight
"They knew and they let it happen! To kids!"-Spotlight
https://tinyurl.com/ruffalospotlight