This weekend, not only were ticket holders for “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” among the first to experience the latest chapter in the saga, they were treated to the trailer for “Mortal Engines” before it landed online. Well, for the rest of us, it has arrived for our eyeballs and it’s certainly….ambitious….
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Produced by Peter Jackson, and helmed by first-timer Christian Rivers (who has over two decades of work in the biz, mostly working with Jackson as a storyboard artist, in addition to shooting action sequences for “The Hobbit” films), the movie is an adaptation of the novel by Philip Reeve, the first in the four book steampunk series. And emphasis here is on spectacle over star power, because there are no big fans populating the credit block. Here’s the official synopsis:
Thousands of years after civilization was destroyed by a cataclysmic event, humankind has adapted and a new way of living has evolved. Gigantic moving cities now roam the Earth, ruthlessly preying upon smaller traction towns. Tom Natsworthy (Robert Sheehan)—who hails from a Lower Tier of the great traction city of London—finds himself fighting for his own survival after he encounters the dangerous fugitive Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar). Two opposites, whose paths should never have crossed, forge an unlikely alliance that is destined to change the course of the future.
Starring Hugo Weaving, Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Jihae, Ronan Raftery, Leila George, Patrick Malahide and Stephen Lang, “Mortal Engines” opens on December 14, 2018.