Mortal Engines (2018)

[SamT]

Title: Mortal Engines (2018)

Tagline: Some Scars Never Heal

Genre: Science Fiction

Director: Christian Rivers

Cast: Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Hugo Weaving, Jihae, Ronan Raftery, Leila George, Patrick Malahide, Stephen Lang, Colin Salmon, Mark Mitchinson, Regé-Jean Page, Menik Gooneratne, Frankie Adams, Leifur Sigurdarson, Kahn West, Andrew Lees, Sophie Cox, Kee Chan, Sarah Peirse, Mark Hadlow, Caren Pistorius, Poppy Macleod, Joel Tobeck, Terry Norris, Calum Gittins, Megan Edwards, Peter Rowley, Aaron Jackson, Stephen Ure, Nathaniel Lees, Paul Yates, Nick Blake, Beatrice Joblin, Thomas Lahood, Simbarashe Matshe, Lee Tuson, Jason Whyte, Michael Homick, Royden Davys, Richard Mills, Shane Rangi, Yoson An, Nicholas Quirke, Lynda Lester, Rick Baker

Release: 2018-12-06

Runtime: 128

Plot: Set in a world many thousands of years in the future. Earth’s cities now roam the globe on huge wheels, devouring each other in a struggle for ever diminishing resources. On one of these massive Traction Cities, Tom Natsworthy has an unexpected encounter with a mysterious young woman from the Outlands who will change the course of his life forever.

 

[Jeff Cooper]

OK, first thought that had me laughing was 'if the thing chasing her is so huge, why does she need binoculars to see it?'

Looks interesting, I don't know if this is based on existing novels or something completely original. I suppose I could go google it.

 

[George_W_K]

Hmmmnnm, piqued my interest...

 

[SamT]

"Mortal Engines is the first of four novels in Philip Reeve's quartet of the same name."

Do they have to drive that fast? When they have a full city on their back, it's dangerous to drive that fast.

 

[Jeff Cooper]

Do they have to drive that fast? When they have a full city on their back, it's dangerous to drive that fast.

Presumably they have some form of inertial dampeners.

 

[Malcolm R]

This will supposedly be available in IMAX 3D in some locations.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

This will supposedly be available in IMAX 3D in some locations.

We have four IMAX locations in Manhattan - it looks like the four different locations will be splitting screenings between Mortal Engines and the animated Spider-Man film. It further looks like the theaters are then splitting 2D and 3D showtimes. So it's technically possible to see Mortal Instruments in IMAX 3D in NYC, but it will take some scheduling effort to do so. Not sure that I can make it work for my schedule, but to be honest, this wasn't a high priority film for me.

 

[JQuintana]

This one looks DOA.

 

[Jake Lipson]

it looks like the four different locations will be splitting screenings between Mortal Engines and the animated Spider-Man film.

That's interesting. My IMAX (which is at the AMC I no longer visit) is splitting showtimes between Mortal Engines 2D and 3D in such a way as 2D gets the matinees and 3D gets the night shows. Spider-Man doesn't have any IMAX shows right now at all (although Spider-Man has "PRIME 3D" shows, whatever that is.) Then doesn't Aquaman get most/all of the IMAX screens next week? This is what happens with a glut of action adventure fanboy titles, I guess...

 

[Josh Steinberg]

This one looks DOA.

I agree. I don't think the trailers looked great. It's based on a Young Adult novel, and the popularity of dystopian YA-sort of adaptations has plummeted in recent years. Throw in that Peter Jackson (who didn't direct, but co-wrote the script and produced, and is the name being promoted with the film) has no goodwill left among average cinemagoers after The Hobbit, and this seems like the wrong project for the wrong time being championed by the wrong filmmaker. I don't see a path to viability here. So they might as well throw it out, get it over with, and take the loss.

"PRIME 3D" shows, whatever that is.

This is AMC's branded "premium large format" auditorium, like Regal's RPX or Cinemark's XD. Unlike IMAX and Dolby Cinema, they do not get specially mastered versions of the film, but rather, show the standard releases on slightly upgraded audio and visual equipment. A Prime auditorium may have Dolby Atmos, but won't have Dolby Vision projection.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Too bad this one looks like a flopper. The concept was intriguing.

 

[Edwin-S]

When is it actually supposed to be out? They were showing Dec 6th, but it is not out where I am at. The only new one showing up is Spiderman. I was looking forward to seeing this one as well.

 

[TravisR]

When is it actually supposed to be out? They were showing Dec 6th, but it is not out where I am at. The only new one showing up is Spiderman. I was looking forward to seeing this one as well.

It starts playing tonight/tomorrow.

 

[Edwin-S]

Hmmm. Looks like they have dropped it from playing where I live. The theatre was showing a trailer for the film a long time ago, but the only change being made to the line-up starting tonight is "Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse". Everything else is playing for another week. That is the problem with only having one theatre in town and a not very good one at that. Cineplex sucks at maintaining quality theatres in mid-size Canadian cities.

 

[Malcolm R]

Director Christian Rivers on the difficulty of making and marketing a non-sequel in today's film marketplace:

https://ew.com/movies/2018/12/14/peter-jackson-mortal-engines-christian-rivers-interview/

Hollywood studios are always on the hunt for original intellectual property to snare and turn into franchises, but Rivers says once they find an original property, it can be hard to market. He feels this is what happened with Mortal Engines.

“[The film is] kind of what they want,” Rivers says. “They say, ‘We want something new, we want something to kick off a new universe and stories.’ So you make that film, and then it’s like they don’t really know how to market it. And the only way they know how is to show so much of the film that audiences have already seen the film before they’ve seen the film — which you don’t want either because you want them to be pleasantly surprised. So it’s an interesting challenge.”

 

[dpippel]

Making a GOOD film helps a lot too. I haven't seen Mortal Engines yet, but it's certainly getting a critical drubbing. The marketing doesn't matter much if you're trying to sell a lousy movie.

 

[mattCR]

Non sequels can work in many ways. Pixar pulls it off. Others do too. Game of Thrones turned into a blockbuster for HBO. But if you are going to do it, it has to be good.

John Wick wasn't a sequel but it scored well.
Girl's Trip was original.
Crazy Rich Asians.

All non-sequels that did good business in recent years.

The audience will go see a film if it is good. They generally won't go if it is terrible.
Mortal Engines is terrible.

 

[Tino]

o if it is terrible.
Mortal Engines is terrible

So you’ve seen it? Why is it terrible?

 

[mattCR]

Saw it on a free pass. The visuals are pretty good; the story makes very little sense, you don't have a reason to care very much for the characters, and there are a LOT of moments where you just have to suspend disbelief against areas before where you've already suspended disbelief.. I mean, if you are going to ask me to buy concept A, don't immediately blow it up with people acting as though Concept A is some new idea to them,when it is supposed to be the world they live in.

 

[George_W_K]

Director Christian Rivers on the difficulty of making and marketing a non-sequel in today's film marketplace:

https://ew.com/movies/2018/12/14/peter-jackson-mortal-engines-christian-rivers-interview/

I think he described trailers for most movies. It's why I avoid them for movies I already know I want to see.