"Mortal Machines", based on the book of the same name by Philippe Reeve, takes place in the distant future after humanity outstripped climate change in the not so distant future and began the quantum apocalypse on its own. After that, the remnants of humanity turned to simpler technologies: cities became on wheels, and the big ones devour the smaller ones, guided by the philosophy of "municipal Darwinism". One of the largest predatory megacities has become - London - where everyone speaks the language of the exposition and pathos phrases for the trailer.
The alpha predator is chasing the small towns of Europe. On one of them, Esther Shaw (Hera Gilmar) gets to London. She finally gets a chance to take revenge on the second man in town, archaeologist Tadeusz Valentine (Hugo Weaving), however, at the last moment she is prevented by a young and naive historian Tom (Robert Sheehan).
A couple of years ago, when I read Philippe Reeve's dystopia "Mortal Machines," I thought, "Hmm, this is a bit like "Star Wars." Peter Jackson (executive producer and screenwriter) obviously thought the same and decided to twist this element of the story to the maximum. Mortal Engines is just the 4th Episode on wheels. Even the control panels resemble those on board the Death Star. Behind them, the local Tarkin looks like a hawk at the devastated lands of Europe. The guns of London look very suspiciously like the quad lasers of starfighters, and the fleet of the local Uprising consists of steampunk variants of LED fighters.
Esther Shaw is an interesting protagonist who is surrounded by less interesting characters and a predictable plot. Gary Gilmar manages to convey Esther's self-contained, barely concealed rage. Her relationship with the inanimate Terminator Shrike is the best part of Mortal Machines. They are embodied even better in the film than in the book.
Here is the time to talk about the elephant in the room, which was immediately noticed by fans of books. Esther's scars in the novel were much worse. Something like Tyrion from Game of Thrones versus Tyrion in A Song of Ice and Fire. When the director of the tape, Christian Reeves, was asked about this change, instead of trying to excuse himself somehow diplomatically, like, "Gilmar is such a wonderful actress, we didn't want to burden her with a simpleton," surprisingly directly replied that it was done to make the romantic line look more plausible. Which, in turn, quite rightly angered many fans.
However, this is not a very good message for an audience that both books and films are designed for. But, in addition to dubious lessons, such a change harms the story, because they changed the main character, and forgot to change the attitude of other characters towards her. Therefore, every time someone looks at her in the film and notes with horror how incredibly attractive Hera Gilmar is with a barely noticeable scar on her face - my suspension of disbelief begins to sound the alarm.
Hugo Weaving in the role of ambitious Valentine chews computer scenery with a passion and joins the Hall of fame of good actors who outplay villains in not too good fantasy films. Michael Sheen and Jeremy Irons are already waiting for him there.
It's even surprisingly nice to see in 2018. It - like London itself to a certain extent - is based on the trends of the past and is a relic of forgotten times when there were at least a few teenage dystopias among the biggest film premieres of the year. And I'm only for movies for teenagers, especially those who don't take themselves too seriously and rely more on the adventure element and less on the romantic line. I really wanted to like "Mortal Machines" and, of course, there is something to love there. However, unfortunately, as in "The Hobbit", all the good is lost behind the graphics and clumsy script. Experience the Thrills of Wazamba Casino - Sign Up Now https://wazamba-casino.org
