MovieChat Forums > Mortal Engines (2018) Discussion > I think having more city battles would h...

I think having more city battles would have made it better

posted 5 years ago by JunoItsBill (93)
2 replies | jump to latest

That one scene in the beginning was probably the best part of the movie. If they had more city battles I think it would have made the movie more fun. Especially if they had London battle a city of closer size. They could employ cool, unique weapons and tactics. Really show what hundreds of years of giant, mobile cities attacking each other could have produced tactically and technologically. From what I’ve read about the books, there were lots of cities, each with different characteristics and weapons systems. Would have been cool to see those. Overall it was an ok movie, not great by any means, watchable but I doubt I’d ever sit down and watch it all again ever. Maybe just the first scene where London suddenly comes from the distance and consumes the Bavarian mining town.

[–] cyguration (3833) 3 years ago

Yeah, at first I thought the chase sequence in the beginning was a little long-winded and overdone, but this was one of those front-loaded movies where the coolest concept was showcased first and so the movie blew its biggest load right at the get-go.

One more decent battle mid-movie would have been awesome with London making its way to Nu-China. Would have really showcased the might of London and -- as you mentioned -- highlighted more of the technological prowess of that period.

Also, Shirke was such a wasted character.

[–] Ace_Spade (9334) 3 years ago

Yes, that would have been cool. When the whole premise is "mobile homes" it does seem like it should come back in the end with a metropolis v. metropolis juggernaut slugfest. "Oh, no! ...Berlin!"

Overall, though, I think the film mixed up its plot priorities. It was about a megalomaniac and the people who try to stop him, which is fine, I guess, but in the middle of it was the story of Shrike and Hester and that was - I thought - waaaay more compelling than the other stuff.

I'd also have liked more of the world and the culture. We got to see a bunch of characters who seem nice but are (largely) inactive or nonchalant about the gobbling up of other cities. The movie has mere glimpses of other populations. The upper tier people who crowd the railings and cheer during fights. Are they that bored and inured to the horrors of their world? What's it like to meet one of those people? (Missed opportunity for socio-political satire, too) How about the gut people who just feed the beast? More of those. How about the immigrants who are "welcomed" from the gobbled-up villages? Do you think they resent London and Londoners? Or what about the Londoners: are they just okay with welcoming potential grudge-harbourers into their midst? Do they wind up fitting in? Resentment? What?

That's not even getting into the sky balloon town, the Lazarus Brigade, the raider-slaver villages of the south, and the anti-traction people who live behind the wall (that apparently gets assaulted on the regular). Even individuals like Pandora: who was she? What was she doing out in the middle of nowhere by herself?

Mortal Engines wasn't as big a disappointment as reviews would have you believe, but I think it was its own worst enemy, self-consuming all the story fuel it lays out and just burning it all for a few decent action scenes.

Also, the dialogue was rubbish.