Mortal Engines (2018)

[chf]

Meh.

It's kinda' like the idea of spaceships coming down into the gravity well of planets. That's NEVER going to happen until they invent some kind of limitless energy, but we see it in EVERY sci-fi show in history.

You just suspend your disbelief, and tune in for a good story.

The story will either be good or it won't.

The real world energy constraints? Who fucking cares.

 

[calsnowskier]

I don't know why every keeps saying stuff like "cool concept". It is a ridiculously stupid concept. Giant cities flying, floating, and driving around? I guess they don't consider the energy needed, material constraints, engineering of monolithic structures, etc. etc. etc.
Retarded. Completely retarded concept. Ugh.

I agree, and have zero interest in this movie. But the same complaints could be made about the Mad Max films (especially Fury Road), but those are all a lot of fun.

 

[returnofjakedog]

Meh.

It's kinda' like the idea of spaceships coming down into the gravity well of planets. That's NEVER going to happen until they invent some kind of limitless energy, but we see it in EVERY sci-fi show in history.

You just suspend your disbelief, and tune in for a good story.

The story will either be good or it won't.

The real world energy constraints? Who fucking cares.

Sorry. This one is just too stupid even considering suspension of disbelief.

 

[chf]

Sorry. This one is just too stupid even considering suspension of disbelief.

It may very well BE a stupid waste of time as a movie. I'll probably, you know, read and watch some reviews before I pre-judge it however.

 

[returnofjakedog]

It may very well BE a stupid waste of time as a movie. I'll probably, you know, read and watch some reviews before I pre-judge it however.

You on board with the stupid verdict yet? 28% on Rotten Tomatos and $100+ million production budget + a HUGE advertising budget = $7.5 million opening weekend. A huge box office bomb.

 

[Duffman]

Jesus this movie is boring as shit. It’s not even bad it’s just boring and uninteresting.

 

[chf]

You on board with the stupid verdict yet? 28% on Rotten Tomatos and $100+ million production budget + a HUGE advertising budget = $7.5 million opening weekend. A huge box office bomb.

Sure, but I'm ON BOARD because apparently (haven't seen it yet) the script has no character development, you don't give a shit about the characters.

The special FX and visuals are apparently top notch.

 

[returnofjakedog]

Sure, but I'm ON BOARD because apparently (haven't seen it yet) the script has no character development, you don't give a shit about the characters.

The special FX and visuals are apparently top notch.

Yep. Same as Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. Great fxs but the movie sucked so hard on a huge budget that its failure bankrupted the production company!

 

[chf]

Yep. Same as Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. Great fxs but the movie sucked so hard on a huge budget that its failure bankrupted the production company!

That's probably a good comparison. I have our local cable companies HBO+movie package, and that's where I watched Valerian, and probably where I'll watch this one too. The other day I was bored so badly, I watched 'Rampage' for free. SO glad I didn't pay for that in the theater.

 

[Clayton]

This is basically a Final Fantasy movie.

What makes those games work is that you spend 95% of the time doing whatever you want. This movie is way too ambitious for it's run time and it is quite stupid. I'd recommend playing Lost Odyssey or Nier Automata instead.

C-

 

[PatsFan2003]

Yep. Same as Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. Great fxs but the movie sucked so hard on a huge budget that its failure bankrupted the production company!

A very BAD film.

 

[Clayton]

I think the one thing that hurts Mortal Engines more than anything is the delivery of most of the lines. There are a lot of really cliche lines that are used to end various scenes before the cut and almost all of them come off as cheesy or off-putting.

Spoiler

The collected main characters also don't have any chemistry. The main female protagonist is raised by a robot and acts like someone who was raised by a robot. The main male protagonist is a gullible people-pleaser who ends up being the damsel in distress a few times before he can prove himself worthy. Thats not a good date movie combo.

They do the same 'girl has scar on her face so everyone thinks she is ugly' cliche that Ready Player One does. Apparently thats where we are at today with modern Young Adult movies. They sell the girl into slavery and no one wants to buy her and decide that she is best used to be chopped up for meat. C'mon. Its pretty obvious they'd use her for more sexual work but the whole thing is written for a younger audience for sure.

The asian lady has a scene that mentions that when she dies she wants to be with the wind so naturally she dies. Thats Van Helsing quality writing right there. Hugo Weaving does a great job until the end where he turns into Dr Evil and goes through every evil villain cliche as if going through a checklist.

Like every action movie lately, they have scenes where humans with no special powers survive very obvious feats of falling that would kill or paralyze them.

My favorite scenes are all with the robot, though. That thing is so unbelievably stupid. I dont even know where to begin. He is a badass killing machine except that when he actually gets close to his target it takes him minutes to actually chase his target down walking as slowly as possile. And obviously he isnt a bad guy because of course he isnt. Can't have a big budget action movie without a misunderstood villain who kills and destroys but is still totally sympathetic.

There is also a scene where the female protagonist proves her loyalty by dropping a blade about 50 ft out of an airship that is being anchored down and flailing around. Naturally the male protagonist catches it out of mid air. So gloriously cheesy.

I haven't seen the Valerian but the movie I'd compare this to is Ready Player One. Its the same level of drek that is somewhat passable with some interesting special effects.

 

[Hank Kingsley]

Can it be worse than Aquaman?

I've read the books as I said and they are aimed at juvenile readers.

I'll likely rent it.

 

[BusSport]

Congratulations to Mortal Engines for losing more money than any other movie in 2018! Not only did it post the biggest loss, but it absolutely crushed all its competition in the size of its loss, like the moving cities in the movie crushed other moving cities!



Per Deadline's "Biggest Box Office Bombs of 2018" article:

(1) -$174.8 million loss - Mortal Engines
(2) -$130.6 million loss - A Wrinkle in Time
(3) -$83.7 million loss - Robin Hood
(4) -$76.9 million loss - Solo: A Star Wars Story
(5) -$65.8 million loss - The Nutcracker and the Four Realms