Released in 2018, Mortal Empires wasn't a very successful movie upon release, but five years later it's seeing a second life as a Netflix sleeper hit, with many new fans discovering the fantasy epic at home.
Written and produced by fantasy filmmaking icon Peter Jackson, and also written by his Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit co-writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, Mortal Engines is set in a fantasy version of our world in which cities are mobilized and can wander around the landscape, consuming each other in a bid to survive in a world devoid of resources.
We follow some characters who undertake a plot to stop a power-hungry archeologist from using old world weapons of mass destruction to spread chaos to the parts of the world that don't still have moving cities. The story is based on the first of a popular series of books by Philip Reeve, but given the performance of Mortal Engines, it's unlikely we'll see a follow-up.
If you've seen Mortal Engines and are wondering where you recognize some of the faces in it from, here's who's in the movie.
Robert Sheehan as Tom Natsworthy
Tom Natsworthy works at the Museum of London; he came from a lower-class family but has worked his way to become an Apprentice Historian, driven partly by his admiration for famous adventurer and archeologist Thaddeus Valentine. Well, that is until he stumbles onto a secret he's not meant to know, and suffers the consequences.
Robert Sheehan is perhaps known best to streaming fans from his performances in The Umbrella Academy on Netflix and also for his role in The Mortal Instruments (no relation to Mortal Engines). However British TV fans might know him best for his leading role as Nathan in Misfits, or as Darren in Love/Hate.
He's also been in the likes of Geostorm, Moonwalkers and Mute. At the time of writing Mortal Engines has been his last movie role.
Hera Hilmar as Hester Shaw
Hester Shaw begins the movie as a mysterious masked stranger stowing aboard the small mining town of Salzhaken, however, she's plotting to get aboard London as part of a revenge plot. Lots of her backstory up until this point is important to the plot, so no spoilers here!
Hera Hilmar is an Icelandic actress who began acting as a child in her home country, however, had small early roles in British productions like Anna Karenina, The Fifth Estate and Da Vinci's Demons. Mortal Engines is her biggest role so far.
Hugo Weaving as Thaddeus Valentine
Thaddeus Valentine is the Deputy Lord Mayor of London, but he's also a famous and seasoned archeologist, explorer and historian, who knows lots about the technology of the old world. His desire for power, and also to support the ailing city of London, leads him to use this information for evil.
The biggest-name actor in the movie by far, Hugo Weaving has been in nearly every blockbuster franchise. He plays Elrond in The Lord of the Rings sextet, Agent Smith in The Matrix movies, Red Skull in Captain America and other Marvel projects and Megatron in some of the Transformers movies.
He's also been in many great movies like Cloud Atlas, Black '47, The Dressmaker, V for Vendetta, The Interview, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Babe and Hacksaw Ridge.
Jihae as Anna Fang
Anna Fang is an operative for the Anti-Traction League, a name for a group of people that is looking to stop the advance of moving cities into parts of the world that still have static settlements. As such she's very interested in uniting with Hester and Tom to stop Thaddeus.
Jihae started off as a singer, releasing several albums and a rock opera before moving into moving pictures. She's only had three TV roles but all are big: they are Netflix's Altered Carbon, HBO's Succession and National Geographic's Mars. The only movie she's been in besides Mortal Engines is 2B where she plays a singer.
Stephen Lang as Shrike
Shrike is a 'Resurrected Man' which is a cyborg warrior made from a dead person, and Shrike has been around so much that he doesn't remember his original life or his past. He's hunting Hester, for reasons that are important to the plot, and Thaddeus finds a way to use that to his advantage.
Though you might not recognize him from the role, Stephen Lang is a hugely prolific working actor that you'd definitely be familiar with. His many, many roles include Avatar and its sequel, Don't Breathe, Public Enemies, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Gods and Generals, Tombstone, Manhunter , Gettysburg, Into The Bandlands and Terra Nova.
