3+1 Short Paragraphs: Mortal Engines

2018, Christian Rivers (Peter Jackson's art dept) -- cinema

There is a subset of gonzo (def. outlandishly unconventional, outrageous, or extreme) scifi movies that seem to have been created for me: The Fifth Element, Buckaroo Banzai, Sucker Punch, Jupiter Ascending, etc. The definition of the sub-genre is in debate (just try Googling lists) but 'unconventional' is the best description. This movie, if it could be called anything, is definitely from unconventional source material, but tries to make a much more conventional adventure movie from it.

Get this. In the distant future, after an apocalyptic war, the great cities of the world made themselves mobile: wheels, treads, tires and tracks. Entire cities are set upon engines and wheels, and rove across the countryside eating each other. Yes, eating. For with the fall of the world, resources could not be gathered, but had to be taken. So cities have hunted other cities until few were left. And London is the greatest.

Tom (Robert Sheehan), an apprentice historian, gets mixed up in a revenge plot between the city's greatest hero, historian Thaddeus Valentine (Hugo Weaving), and Hester, the young woman he tried to murder ages ago. Valentine seeks control over London and a great power from the past, a weapon great enough to allow London to challenge the greatest of the Anti-traction League cities, Shan Guo in the far east. Along the way they meet an odd ball collection of heroes and villains.

That last sentence is as mundane as the movie wants to be. But why? It could have gone all Terry Gilliam and embraced its outrageous premise, but instead it tried to establish a more classic adventure scifi movie. Now, to be honest, so did the source material and the books are kind of disappointing considering where and when they are set. Easily digested is what they, and the movie, were seeking. So, in the end, not so gonzo afterall.