When it came out in 2018, Mortal Engines wasn't exactly well received, and at the time of writing it's the fourth biggest box office bomb of all time. However Netflix has a habit of giving maligned movies a second chance, and that's just happened with this film too.
After being re-added to Netflix UK at the beginning of July, Mortal Engines has now enjoyed a few days straight on the streaming service's most-streamed movies list, with the two-hour fantasy currently sitting above Sing and a Johnny English sequel.
The movie is set in a dystopian future in which cities are mounted on giant moving tracks and roam a barren landscape cannibalizing each other to survive, with these giant monstrosities being known as 'Traction Cities'. Mortal Engines follows a cast of characters including naive historian Tom and vengeful wanderer Hester as they work to stop a conspiracy by people in London to break into the part of the world that hasn't mobilized its cities [check our Mortal Engines cast who's who for more on the characters].
Throw into the mix Ressurected Men (terminators made from long-dead soldiers), artifacts from the past, fantasy weapons of mass destruction and creepy centipede robots, and you've got Mortal Engines.
Starring Robert Sheehan (Misfits, The Umbrella Academy) in the main role alongside Hera Hilmar, Hugo Weaving, Jihae and Stephen Lang, the movie garnered a negative reception upon release, but it did also win some awards for its visual effects and look. The movie currently sits at 26% on Rotten Tomatoes.
An adaptation of a self-titled book by Philip Reeve, which is the first in a hugely popular series of four, Mortal Engines changes a lot from its source material, adding lots of tropes from fantasy and young adult movies of the time, which fans weren't pleased about.
The movie was written and produced by Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit director Peter Jackson, and is often misattributed as being directed by him too, largely because he originally was going to take the helm. Instead, it was directed by his protege Christian Rivers, who did the storyboarding for most of Jackson's movies (winning an Oscar for Best Visual Effects on King Kong).
Though Mortal Engines was a box office and critical failure, it's actually worth watching on Netflix. While it doesn't even come close to the book it's based on or Jackson's previous fantasy epics, and it definitely borrows too heavily from the popular movies of its time, it has its charms. The visual side of the movie really is impressive, with the giant lumbering cities and floating airships being unique and distinctive, and while the plot and characters are totally forgettable, worse movies land on streaming services every week.
It's unlikely that there will be a sequel to Mortal Engines, despite the fact that concept art for the movie included an image of the last chapter of the final book (a favorite amongst fans). Films that lose nearly $200 million generally don't get sequels. But if you watch Mortal Engines and want to understand more of the world and what fans liked about the books, you can check out the book collection with four main-series novels and three prequels.
