Mal12345
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It didn't suck. Everybody on the net says it sucks. But if there is any redeeming factor at all, then it doesn't suck. The digital effects were awe-inspiring, so the movie didn't suck.
Within the sci-fi/fantasy genre every story must be compared to Star Wars.
Star Wars originally, in 1977, was giving an average rating of 2 1/2 out of 4 stars. The music and special effects were outstanding, but the acting was so-so. The special edition released by Lucas will lower the rating by 1/2 star or so.
Despite the mediocre critic reviews, I remember how Star Wars nearly swept the Academy Awards. Here are the stats on awards given to Star Wars:
"The top Academy Award-winning Star Wars film, this motion picture was nominated for ten Oscars and won six. These included Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Effects (Visual Effects), and Best Music (Original Score)." But movies also contain such factors as the likability of the characters (do I even care about them?) and the credibility of the story-line (plot-holes).
How did Mortal Engines do when stacked up against Star Wars?
Likability of the characters.
Mortal Engines gave me no reason to like or care about the protagonist. I don't care about her goals.
Credibility of the story-line.
Cities have been put on wheels or legs in previous stories. Authors have even strapped rockets on them and blasted them into space. There's not much left to do with cities that hasn't been done.
London is the biggest, baddest city-with-traction of them all. It cannibalizes other cities in order to survive. But it is slowly losing the battle against entropy. There's got to be more cities to gobble up and the pickings are becoming slim. Fortunately, there are still "static" cities, but they all exist beyond the Shield Wall.
Does anybody recall where a Shield Wall was mentioned before in science fiction? And do you remember what happened to it? Mortal Engines gains much of its credibility (and, um, traction) from elements of old science fiction stories such as Star Wars, Dune, Terminator, and John Carter.
Musical score.
The score wasn't over-powering, but it didn't stand out in any way either compared to the scores from Star Wars.
Editing.
I dislike when the music drowns out the dialogue.
Bad guy.
A standard baddie. He believes the ends justify the means, just as they all do.
Pacing.
There was rarely a dull moment in this movie.
Tension.
Not much build up and release of tension, even at the end (which was predictable).
Character development.
Almost none. Shrike, who had the least personality, showed the most development. He was also the scariest bad guy. But was he a bad guy? I thought so at first and then slowly came around to understanding that his goal and the main protagonist's were identical at one time.
Digital Effects.
Outstanding. They put Lucas to shame.
Beginning to end:
The consensus I've seen is that the story began great and then kind of petered out toward the end despite all the action. The movie captures the audience and then slowly drops them into the abyss with the introduction of the main protagonist, and so on. In my opinion she under-played her role. Rey in Star Wars is more interesting.
Favorite line:
(Spoken by the bad guy): "You are a dinosaur. And I am the meteor."
Within the sci-fi/fantasy genre every story must be compared to Star Wars.
Star Wars originally, in 1977, was giving an average rating of 2 1/2 out of 4 stars. The music and special effects were outstanding, but the acting was so-so. The special edition released by Lucas will lower the rating by 1/2 star or so.
Despite the mediocre critic reviews, I remember how Star Wars nearly swept the Academy Awards. Here are the stats on awards given to Star Wars:
"The top Academy Award-winning Star Wars film, this motion picture was nominated for ten Oscars and won six. These included Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Effects (Visual Effects), and Best Music (Original Score)." But movies also contain such factors as the likability of the characters (do I even care about them?) and the credibility of the story-line (plot-holes).
How did Mortal Engines do when stacked up against Star Wars?
Likability of the characters.
Mortal Engines gave me no reason to like or care about the protagonist. I don't care about her goals.
Credibility of the story-line.
Cities have been put on wheels or legs in previous stories. Authors have even strapped rockets on them and blasted them into space. There's not much left to do with cities that hasn't been done.
London is the biggest, baddest city-with-traction of them all. It cannibalizes other cities in order to survive. But it is slowly losing the battle against entropy. There's got to be more cities to gobble up and the pickings are becoming slim. Fortunately, there are still "static" cities, but they all exist beyond the Shield Wall.
Does anybody recall where a Shield Wall was mentioned before in science fiction? And do you remember what happened to it? Mortal Engines gains much of its credibility (and, um, traction) from elements of old science fiction stories such as Star Wars, Dune, Terminator, and John Carter.
Musical score.
The score wasn't over-powering, but it didn't stand out in any way either compared to the scores from Star Wars.
Editing.
I dislike when the music drowns out the dialogue.
Bad guy.
A standard baddie. He believes the ends justify the means, just as they all do.
Pacing.
There was rarely a dull moment in this movie.
Tension.
Not much build up and release of tension, even at the end (which was predictable).
Character development.
Almost none. Shrike, who had the least personality, showed the most development. He was also the scariest bad guy. But was he a bad guy? I thought so at first and then slowly came around to understanding that his goal and the main protagonist's were identical at one time.
Digital Effects.
Outstanding. They put Lucas to shame.
Beginning to end:
The consensus I've seen is that the story began great and then kind of petered out toward the end despite all the action. The movie captures the audience and then slowly drops them into the abyss with the introduction of the main protagonist, and so on. In my opinion she under-played her role. Rey in Star Wars is more interesting.
Favorite line:
(Spoken by the bad guy): "You are a dinosaur. And I am the meteor."