Mortal Engines (film)

Mortal Engines is a 2018 post-apocalyptic adventure film directed by Christian Rivers and with a screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson, based on the novel of the same name by Philip Reeve, and starring Hugo Weaving, Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Jihae, Ronan Raftery, Leila George, Patrick Malahide, and Stephen Lang. An American–New Zealand co-production, the film is set in a post-apocalyptic world where entire cities have been mounted on wheels and motorised, and prey on one another.

Jackson purchased the rights to the book in 2009, but the film languished for several years before being officially announced in 2016. Jackson picked Rivers, who won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for his work on Jackson's King Kong, to make his directorial debut with the project, and also brought on several members of his production teams from the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit film series. Filming took place from April to July 2017 in New Zealand.

Mortal Engines had its world premiere on November 27, 2018 in London, was theatrically released in Australia and New Zealand on December 6, 2018 and in the United States on December 14, 2018. The film received mixed reviews from critics, some of whom praised the visual effects and score with most criticizing the direction, screenplay and "lack of personality". It was a box-office bomb, having grossed over $82 million worldwide against a production budget of at least $100 million, with estimated losses for the studio being as much as $150 million.

Plot
Following a cataclysmic conflict known as the Sixty Minute War, the remnants of humanity regroup and form mobile "predator" cities. Under a philosophy known as "Municipal Darwinism", larger cities hunt and absorb smaller settlements in the "Great Hunting Ground", which includes Great Britain and Continental Europe. In opposition, settlements of the "Anti-Traction League" have developed an alternative civilization consisting of "static settlements" (traditional, non-mobile cities) in Asia led by Shan Guo (formerly China), protected by the "Shield Wall". Relics of modern technology such as toasters, computers, and smartphones are valued as "Old-Tech."

The city of London captures a small mining town called Salzhaken, absorbing its population and resources, under orders of Lord Mayor Magnus Crome. A masked woman among the Salzhakens is Hester Shaw, who seeks to assassinate Thaddeus Valentine, Head of the Guild of Historians. Tom Natsworthy, a teenage Apprentice Historian, is sent to London's "Gut" to collect Old-Tech for London's Museum, accompanied by Valentine's good-natured daughter Katherine. Hester attempts to kill Valentine but Tom intervenes, pursuing Hester to a waste chute. Hester escapes, but not before telling him that Valentine murdered her mother and scarred her face. When Tom informs Valentine of this, he pushes Tom down the chute.

Tom and Hester are forced to work together to traverse the Great Hunting Ground, finding refuge in a town called Scuttlebug, but the owners lock them in a cell and intend to sell them as slaves. Hester confides that Valentine killed her archaeologist mother Pandora after stealing a piece of Old-Tech she found in a dig in the Dead Continent of Americas, whilst young Hester escaped with a necklace her mother gave her. Meanwhile, Valentine frees Shrike, a reanimated cyborg known as a "Stalker", from an offshore prison to hunt down and kill Hester. At the slave market of Rustwater, Tom and Hester are rescued by Anti-Traction League agent Anna Fang. During the chaos, Tom and Hester are pursued by Shrike, whom Hester reveals she knows. Hester explains that Shrike had found and raised her, and Hester promised to allow him to turn her into a Stalker like himself, but she left after discovering that London was in the Great Hunting Ground. On London, Katherine grows estranged from her father, especially after learning from the Apprentice Engineer Bevis Pod that Valentine pushed Tom down the chute, and learns that Valentine's energy project in the re-purposed St Paul's Cathedral is more than it seems.

Hester and Tom travel on Anna's airship the Jenny Haniver to the airborne city Airhaven, meeting with other members of the Anti-Traction League. Tom figures out what Pandora discovered is MEDUSA, a superweapon that can destroy cities in an instant. Shrike catches up with them and Airhaven is destroyed in the ensuing fire. Following a fierce skirmish, Shrike is mortally wounded, realizing that Hester is in love with Tom. Before perishing, he makes peace with Hester and frees her of her promise. Hester, Tom, and Anna then travel to the Shield Wall with the surviving Anti-Tractionists. On London, Valentine kills Crome in a coup and drums up support from Londoners by vowing to destroy the Shield Wall with MEDUSA and lead them to a new Hunting Ground in Asia. Anna convinces Governor Kwan to launch the Anti-Tractionist fleet against London, but MEDUSA destroys the fleet and blasts a hole through the Shield Wall. Hester discovers that her mother's necklace hides a "crash drive" with a kill switch for MEDUSA. Hester, Tom, Anna, and the remaining Anti-Tractionists lead a raid against London, braving the city's anti-aircraft defences.

Hester and Anna infiltrate St Paul's, and though Valentine mortally wounds Anna during a sword duel, Hester disables MEDUSA with the crash drive. Still determined to destroy the Shield Wall, Valentine orders his henchmen to kill the city's control crew and ram it into the Wall. With Katherine's help, Tom uses the Jenny Haniver to destroy London's engine. Valentine attempts to flee but Hester pursues and fights him aboard his airship, where he reveals he is her father. Tom rescues Hester and shoots down Valentine's ship, where it is crushed when it is run over by London's slowing tracks - finally killing Valentine in the process. The surviving Londoners, led by Katherine, make peace with the Anti-Tractionists, whilst Tom and Hester travel in the Jenny Haniver to see the world.

Cast

 * Hera Hilmar as Hester Shaw, Pandora's daughter and a disfigured, mask-wearing fugitive assassin with a personal vendetta against Thaddeus
 * Poppy MacLeod as Young Hester Shaw
 * Robert Sheehan as Tom Natsworthy, a low-class apprentice historian of London thrown out of the city and forced to ally himself with Hester and the resistance.
 * Hugo Weaving as Thaddeus Valentine, Head of the Guild of Historians and the father of Katherine Valentine and Hester Shaw.
 * Jihae as Anna Fang, a pilot and leader of the Anti-Traction League, a resistance group banding against the moving cities devouring Earth's resources.
 * Leila George as Katherine Valentine, daughter of Thaddeus Valentine and one of London's elite.
 * Ronan Raftery as Bevis Pod, an apprentice engineer whom Katherine befriends.
 * Patrick Malahide as Magnus Crome, the Mayor of London.
 * Stephen Lang as Shrike, the last of an undead battalion of soldiers known as Stalkers, who were war casualties re-animated with machine parts, and Hester's guardian.

Additionally, Colin Salmon plays Chudleigh Pomeroy, Tom’s historian boss; Mark Mitchinson plays Vambrace; Regé-Jean Page plays Captain Khora; Menik Gooneratne plays Sathya; Mark Hadlow plays Stigwood, the Rustwater auctioneer; Kee Chan plays Governor Kwan; Sophie Cox plays Clytie Potts; Caren Pistorius plays Pandora Shaw, Hester’s deceased mother; Leifur Sigurdarson plays Nils Lindstrom, an aviator; Aaron Jackson plays Gench; Stephen Ure plays Pewsey; Andrew Lees plays Herbert Melliphant; and Peter Jackson cameos as Sooty Pete.

Development
In December 2009, New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson was reported to have begun development of a film based on Philip Reeve's novel Mortal Engines. On October 24, 2016, production started on a feature film to be directed by Christian Rivers, marking his directorial debut. The script was written by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens, while Media Rights Capital and Universal Pictures would be financing the film. Shooting was scheduled to start in March 2017 in Wellington, New Zealand. Producers Zane Weiner and Amanda Walker, who both worked on The Hobbit, spearheaded the New Zealand-based team, along with US-based Deborah Forte.

Pre-production
In February 2017, Robert Sheehan was cast in the film for the lead role along with Ronan Raftery for a supporting role, while Hera Hilmar was cast as a female lead. In March 2017, more cast was announced including Stephen Lang, Jihae, and newcomer Leila George. Hugo Weaving, Patrick Malahide, Colin Salmon, and Regé-Jean Page joined the film in April 2017. Richard Armitage was offered a role but passed due to scheduling conflicts.

Filming
Principal photography on the film began in April 2017, with shooting occurring at Stone Street Studios in Wellington, New Zealand, and was completed in July 2017.

Post-production
Visual effects were provided by Weta Digital and supervised by Ken McGaugh, Kevin Smith and Luke Millar.

Release
Mortal Engines had its world premiere at the Empire, Leicester Square in London on November 27, 2018. It was released in New Zealand by Universal Pictures on December 7, 2018 and was then released in the United States on December 14, 2018, in 3D, Dolby Cinema and IMAX 3D.

Box office
Mortal Engines has grossed $16 million in the United States and Canada, and $66.9 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $82.9 million, against a production budget of at least $100 million. Deadline Hollywood reported that rival studios deduced the film would lose anywhere from $105–150 million.

In the United States and Canada, Mortal Engines was released alongside Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and The Mule, and was initially projected to gross $10–13 million from 3,103 theaters in its opening weekend. After making just $2.8 million on its first day (including $675,000 from Thursday night previews), weekend estimates were lowered to $7 million. It went on to debut to $7.5 million, finishing fifth at the box office. The film fell 77% in its second weekend to $1.7 million, one of the largest drops for a wide release of all-time, and finished in 13th.

The film has grossed $17 million in international markets, including Russia ($4.1 million), Indonesia ($1.6 million), South Korea ($1.6 million) and Australia ($1 million).

Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 27% based on 154 reviews, and an average rating of 4.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Mortal Engines has no shortage of eye-catching special effects, but lacks enough high-octane narrative fuel to give this futuristic fantasy sufficient cinematic combustion." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 44 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave the film a 66% overall positive score and a "low" 43% "definite recommend"; social media monitor RelishMix noted online response to the film was "mixed, leaning negative."

The Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw gave the film 2/5 stars, describing it as "steampunk Star Wars, with a bit of low-octane Gilliam and Gaiman on the side." Bradshaw also characterized Mortal Engines as a "tiringly frenetic and derivative fantasy-adventure movie." Similarly, The Daily Telegraph Tim Robley awarded Mortal Engines 2/5 stars, describing the film as a "a mechanical, soulless dystopian theme park ride to nowhere." Variety reviewer Andrew Barker praised Mortal Engines opening chase sequence but criticized the "unwieldy, baffling, exhausting, and unintentionally hysterical" plot development. While praising the film's emotional depth and Junkie XL's score, Barker compared Mortal Engines unfavorably to other fantasy films such as Cloud Atlas and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

New Zealand news website Stuff reviewer Graeme Tuckett awarded 4/5 stars, praising director Christian Rivers for the film's tone, pacing, choreography, sets, and costumes while noting the film's references to other series, including Star Wars, Mad Max, and The City of Lost Children. Similarly, The Sydney Morning Herald reviewer Sandra Hall praised Peter Jackson for his world-building and Mortal Engines social, political, and historical commentary, awarding it 4/5 stars. The Hindustan Times reviewer Rohan Naahar awarded the film 3/5 stars, describing Mortal Engines as a "visually, stunning adventure for kids" and praising the film's social and political subtext. IGN reviewer Rafael Motamayor awarded Mortal Engines 7.5/10 stars, praising the film's world-building and visuals while criticizing its "underwhelming" story. Motamayor also praised Stephen Lang's role as Shrike, opining that he injected "some much-needed humanity into an otherwise fully mechanical film."

Ben Kenigsberg of The New York Times observed that the movie borrowed elements from other films including Star Wars, Mad Max, The Matrix, and The Lord of the Rings. David Fear of Rolling Stones described the film adaptation as "a steampunk Frankenstein's monster made from spare parts", giving it 2.5 out of five stars. Glenn Kenny of RogerEbert.com awarded the film 1.5 stars, describing the film's story pacing as "laughably portentous and kitschy" and likened the film to another box-office bomb, the Wachowskis' Jupiter Ascending. Sandy Schaffer of Screen Rant awarded the film 2.5 out of five stars, praising Mortal Engines world design and visuals but criticizing what he termed as "its uninspired narrative and ungainly filmmaking."

Author's response
Philip Reeve, author of the Mortal Engines novels, praised the film, stating, "Christian Rivers has done a fantastic job - a huge, visually awesome action movie with perfect pace and a genuine emotional core... there are many changes to the characters, world, and story, but it’s still fundamentally the same thing."

Possible sequels and video games
While Peter Jackson stated that he is keen to develop a film series, there has been no formal announcement of plans for a sequel. When asked about the possibility of a second film, screenwriter Philippa Boyens stated that "mostly, this has to work as a film. This may be the only one... I hope not because I think the story just keeps getting better and better."

In an interview with Polygon on October 30, 2018, Peter Jackson explained an absence of a game based around the Mortal Engines, saying if that film performs well enough to make a sequel, there will definitely be a video game to follow.