One thousand years from now following a devastating war cities will be mobile. Sitting on huge caterpillar tracks the larger cities will prey on the small. Thaddeus Valentine (Hugo Weaving) is developing a secret project within the predator city of London to solve their energy crisis whilst a young woman named Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar) seeks revenge for what he did when she was a child.

Mortal Engines is based on the novel of the same name by Philip Reeve and is brought to us in film form by the team that created the likes of Lord of the Rings and King Kong. With a script by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens and directed by Christian Rivers who was an integral part of the digital effects team for those films.

The world building on display is outstanding. The effects and costumes are great but the cities are stunning. The detail and imagination involved in bringing the various moving cities and townships to life is fascinating. There is a city in the air and one on the side of this worlds version of the Great Wall of China as well as the vast London. It doesn’t stop there though. The film alludes to a changed world map, many wars and ages since our time and even different ways of life. London for example follows the principles of “Municipal Darwinism”. One of the most intriguing ideas is that of unfeeling resurrected people in the bodies of robots called Stalkers. An idea that possibly deserved more screen time than it gets.

Where the film falters slightly is in plot predictability and characterisation. I’ve not read the novel on which it is based, but it feels very straightforward save the world stuff, with all the imagination firmly funnelled into the world. Aside from Hugo Weaving the actors should feel mostly new to you as they are up and coming newcomers. They all do a decent enough job but struggle with the occasional overly dramatic line that the director lingers on a little too much.

Overall though I really enjoyed my time in this world. Given box office results so far I think this might be our only foray into it. The film it most reminds me of in recent times is 2012’s John Carter. A sci-fi fantasy film with great world building, a slightly long running time, the occasional tendency to over dramatic lines but a fun watch.