Disclaimer:  The views expressed here are mine alone and do not reflect those of allgames.com.

Introduction to Mortal Engines Movie Review by Ms. H

Let’s see...where should I start?  I think I will start with the fact the movie Mortal Engines is based on a book by Philip Reeve.  Looks like the movie was trying to follow the book too closely. This may explain all of the different subplots in the movie that made it difficult to pinpoint exactly who is the main character -- that is -- if there was one.  I believe the main character is the actress, Hera Hilmar, who you may have seen in the movie trailers or posters wearing a maroon scarf covering the bottom half of her face. However, if you see the movie, Mortal Engines, you may come to a different conclusion.

Setting and Time Period of Mortal Engines Movie

The Mortal Engines movie is shows the author’s idea of what the future may look like. Based on the events in the movie -- the future does not look too bright.  In this movie (which has a London setting), there is, believe it or not, a collector of "old tech" -- such as cell phones, etc. However, the major old tech find in this city filled with machinery was ...wait for it ... an old  toaster. To add to the imagination of the author, twinkles make a movie debut of sorts -- even though in the movie the “treat” was purported to be over a thousand years old.

Plot of Mortal Engines Movie

As mentioned in my introduction, it may be difficult to pin down a specific plot since so many different stories are going on simultaneously it seems.  This movie uses flashbacks to bring you up to date on why Hera Hilmar who plays Hester Shaw seeks harmful revenge against the Thaddeus Valentine character.   Spoiler alert: She does carry out a revengeful act in the early movie scenes. Thaddeus Valentine survives, because apparently he still has a rather arduous task of being in charge of a devious stealth operation.  Apparently he had to stick around for the majority of the movie to follow-through with his mission.  I won’t divulge what his mission was just in case you want to see the movie for yourself.

Repeat Actions in the Movie Mortal Engines

I believe a movie is on a downward spiral when you sense certain actions are becoming repetitive.  For example, the multiple explosions got old pretty fast. Another repetitive action was Hera Hilmar’s attempt to run away from danger. After the first long running scene showing her being chased by actor Robert Sheehan, there was no need to show her running again in yet another moment of danger, which she of course eventually escaped.

Too Many Coincidences in the Movie

When the Hera Hilmar and Robert Sheehan's characters are attacked by huge machine-like creatures, somehow actor Robert Sheehan was  standing on top of a manhole that opened up and saved him at the last minute.  Also during the auction segment, it just so happens the highest bidder turned out to be someone who had an ulterior motive to battle with the person who is involved in the secret mission which I will not divulge. This movie, is of course fiction, but I think the author strayed far from realism in writing the book, unless the director took literary license and added these coincidental scenes to move the story or stories along.

Mortal Engines Failure to Choose a Specific Genre

When you watch Mortal Engines, you may think you are watching a futuristic science fiction movie.  This is all well and good, until the monster creature appears.  Could  Mortal Engines be a horror movie as well? This storyline tells how this creature -- which is not human -- raises a young girl and has the idea to make her look like a machine.  Don’t worry. She escaped before this happens since she had to go on her mission to seek revenge again Thaddeus Valentine.

Actors Look Alikes -  Mortal Engines Movie

If you watch Mortal Engines, you probably will think that Robert Sheehan may be the son or a relative of Eric Roberts.  Check out the resemblance here.

Eric Roberts

Robert Sheehan

Assessment of Mortal Engines Movie

When I saw the movie poster for Mortal Engines, I was under the impression the movie would be a whole lot simpler with Hera Hilmar as the main character.  As it turns out, the poster did not come close to revealing what would be involved in the movie. All is not lost so. On the bright side, it was interesting to see the type vehicles/airports the author imagined for the future -- including an in-air airplane terminal where individuals can have a fight,  bombs explode, the whole terminal has a firey crash from the air -- and the main characters who are on the air terminal manage to survive the crash without a scratch. Another plus is the movie is rated PG-13 so the whole family can see it.

Rating of Mortal Engines Movie

Based on a rating of 1 star to 5 stars with 5 stars being the highest, i rate Mortal Engines 1 ¾ stars.