The
biggest mega-budget “epic failure” to
crash and burn at the global box office in 2018 isn’t the much maligned ‘Robin
Hood,’ which at least boasted some star power in Taron Egerton and Jamie Foxx,
but the Peter Jackson-produced steampunk-fantasy adaptation of Philip Reeve’s
‘Mortal Engines’ quartet of YA novels published from 2001-2006. Grand, sweeping and majestic, first-time
helmer Christian Rivers’ ‘Mortal Engines’ sputtered and choked at the box
office over the weekend, raking in a disappointing $44 million worldwide ($9 million domestic) against a reported
budget of well over $100 million despite being one of my most anticipated
“must-see” movies of Q4 2018.
Not
having read the aforementioned quartet of books or any spoilers plot-wise
before going to see ME, I approached this film with a blank slate, open to all
its wonders and possibilities. For those
of you unfamiliar with its premise (warning, spoilers ahead), ME is a “steampunk-fantasy” set in
a post-apocalyptic universe roamed by giant mobile tracked settlements ranging in size from
massive cities to small towns and ruled by Darwinism in its
purest survival-of-the-fittest form. The
story follows the exploits of a mysterious masked young woman named Hester Shaw
(Hera Hilmar) and a handful of supporting characters after her village was swallowed
up by London in the film’s early scenes.
Visually
and stylistically, I enjoyed ME for its daring and creative vision and
world-building. It has a strong heroine
in Hester, interesting supporting characters, a dastardly villain in Thaddeus
Valentine played by Hugo Weaving from ‘The Matrix' and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogies
and an engaging – if somewhat familiar – good-versus-evil storyline. ME is also a rollicking adventure in
the grand ‘Star Wars’ tradition. It’s a shame
that the movie bombed at the box office because it's behind the 8 ball before it even hits theaters and will certainly suffer a huge loss due
to its budget.
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