Mortal Engines
Took the family to see Mortal Engines this last weekend.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1571234/
Produced by the team behind the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, this film is based on a novel of the same name written by Philip Reeve. The film was directed by Peter Jackson protege Christian Rivers and stars Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Jihae, and Hugo Weaving.
What attracted us to the film was the premise and the look of it (post-apocalyptic/steampunk). In the distant future, there are no countries. City/states roll over the wasteland on large engines. Again, the mighty exploit the weak, the large city of London consumes smaller engines, taking the resources found and adding the citizens to its own population, keeping them in a caste-like "tier" designation.
I found the look of the film and points of the story not only reminiscent of Howl's Moving Castle, Mad Max: The Road Warrior and Fury Road, The Hunger Games, the television series The 100, but also of one of my favorite anime series, Last Exile. This is especially true as we see that there are not only roaming cities but also smaller floating outposts as well as "sky ships" that a small band of freedom fighters, known as the "anti-traction league" use to wreak havoc on these large cities gobbling up the landscape.
Dirigibles and floating cities have fascinated me since seeing The Empire Strikes Back as a child. In Mortal Engines, one of the stand out characters in the film, "Anna Fang" (played deliciously by singer/artist Jihae), takes the two leads to one of these floating cities. Of course, we don't spend much time there as the plot must move along. but it raised an interesting question for me.
I have often wondered if we, as a species, would have to move to the skies as we continue to poison the earth and oceans of our own planet. Would we live in floating cities, traveling around on small planes and sky ships? After seeing this film, I see that the idea has occurred to others as well. I wonder what it would take to not only sustain life in the clouds, but to keep them aloft? What about the land animals? Would we be able to continue, giving the earth and oceans a chance to heal?
I like a film that makes me think of possibilities. I like a film that stays with me beyond the credits.
Will this film be a big hit or win lots of awards? Probably not. But that's never been the point of art.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1571234/
Produced by the team behind the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, this film is based on a novel of the same name written by Philip Reeve. The film was directed by Peter Jackson protege Christian Rivers and stars Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Jihae, and Hugo Weaving.
What attracted us to the film was the premise and the look of it (post-apocalyptic/steampunk). In the distant future, there are no countries. City/states roll over the wasteland on large engines. Again, the mighty exploit the weak, the large city of London consumes smaller engines, taking the resources found and adding the citizens to its own population, keeping them in a caste-like "tier" designation.
I found the look of the film and points of the story not only reminiscent of Howl's Moving Castle, Mad Max: The Road Warrior and Fury Road, The Hunger Games, the television series The 100, but also of one of my favorite anime series, Last Exile. This is especially true as we see that there are not only roaming cities but also smaller floating outposts as well as "sky ships" that a small band of freedom fighters, known as the "anti-traction league" use to wreak havoc on these large cities gobbling up the landscape.
Dirigibles and floating cities have fascinated me since seeing The Empire Strikes Back as a child. In Mortal Engines, one of the stand out characters in the film, "Anna Fang" (played deliciously by singer/artist Jihae), takes the two leads to one of these floating cities. Of course, we don't spend much time there as the plot must move along. but it raised an interesting question for me.
I have often wondered if we, as a species, would have to move to the skies as we continue to poison the earth and oceans of our own planet. Would we live in floating cities, traveling around on small planes and sky ships? After seeing this film, I see that the idea has occurred to others as well. I wonder what it would take to not only sustain life in the clouds, but to keep them aloft? What about the land animals? Would we be able to continue, giving the earth and oceans a chance to heal?
I like a film that makes me think of possibilities. I like a film that stays with me beyond the credits.
Will this film be a big hit or win lots of awards? Probably not. But that's never been the point of art.
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