Mortal Engines
2018, Wingnut Films et al
Are you a student of film like myself? There's as much to be learned from box office disasters as bona fide blockbusters. As a member in good standing of the former category, Mortal Engines must have been a terrible embarrassment for producer Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings, etc.): the biggest bomb of 2018, it lost his studio around $175 million. Ouch! $250 million and the best CGI on the planet couldn't save a laughably ridiculous premise, bland acting (save for the wonderful-as-always Hugo Weaving) and a meandering, well-perforated plot. Best appreciated by steampunk junkies... oh, and the author of the novel on which it was based—perhaps not surprisingly—loved it.
DKS 7/3/20
GRUMPY OLD FART-O-METER® Rating:
