Mortal Engines (2018)
128 min · Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure
Peter Jackson's $100 million passion project opened to just $7.5 million domestically, becoming one of the decade's most catastrophic box-office failures.
The Bottom Reel's take
Sometimes a film rolls into theaters with a budget as gargantuan as its ambition, promising a new cinematic universe to devour. *Mortal Engines*, clocking in at a robust 128 minutes of Sci-Fi, Action, and Adventure, certainly aimed for the stars – or, more accurately, for massive, engine-powered cities devouring each other across a desolate landscape. When you’ve got Peter Jackson’s name attached as a producer and co-writer on what was reportedly his passion project, the expectation is often for something epic, something grand. The actual result, however, proved to be a rather significant chasm between that lofty aspiration and what ultimately appeared on screen, leading to its infamous status as one of the decade's most catastrophic box-office failures.
Despite its astronomical $100 million production budget, which apparently couldn't buy it more than a $7.5 million domestic opening, *Mortal Engines* delivers a unique flavor of cinematic excess. It’s a vision so committed to its utterly bonkers premise – cities as mobile, predatory ecosystems – that you can almost feel the collective furrowed brows of everyone involved trying to make it coherent. The critical consensus, a rather dismal 26/100, might suggest a complete misfire, but we find there's a certain endearing quality to a film that swings so wildly and misses by such a wide, glorious margin. It’s a spectacle of design and concept that often overshadows the narrative, leaving us with a dizzying array of steampunk-esque mechanical wonders and a story that frequently struggles to keep pace.
And that, dear readers, is precisely why *Mortal Engines* earns its place in our hearts at The Bottom Reel. It’s not just a bad movie; it's a wonderfully, enthusiastically *bad* movie. The earnestness with which it presents its absurd world, coupled with the sheer scale of the visual effects, makes for an unforgettable ride. The film is a masterclass in trying *really, really hard* to be amazing, and in doing so, becoming something far more entertaining than a merely mediocre attempt. The audience score of 45/100 hints at this — there's a contingent of viewers who, like us, appreciate the sheer audacity on display.
So, while the critics may have deemed it a box-office bomb, we wholeheartedly recommend giving *Mortal Engines* a spin. It’s a film that practically begs for a group viewing, ideally with a large bowl of popcorn and a healthy sense of humor. Gather your most discerning friends, settle in for a wild, two-hour-plus ride, and prepare to witness what happens when boundless imagination meets a few crucial missteps. It’s famously bad, yes, but undeniably, unforgettably fun.
Synopsis
In a post-apocalyptic world where predator cities on wheels consume smaller settlements, a young woman seeks revenge against the man who scarred her.