by 
This science fiction film released in 2018 at the cinema adapts the best-seller steampunk by Philip Reeve. If you still don't have it, you have until June 14 to catch up on Netflix.
When he has just finished his trilogy The Hobbit, Peter Jackson is already embarking on a new ambitious project: the adaptation, in film, of the multi-printed novel by Philip Reeve, Fatal mechanics. He confides the reins to one of his closest collaborators, Christian Rivers. They imagine two what this futuristic universe might look like.
Mortal Engines takes place in fact hundreds of years after an apocalyptic event destroyed the land. Humanity has adapted to survive by finding a new way of life. Thus, gigantic mobile cities wander on land mercilessly taking power over other smaller mobile cities.
Two characters that everything opposes, who were not intended to cross, will then form an extraordinary alliance, intended to upset the future. Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan (The Umbrella Academy) and Hugo Weaving (Matrix) are the headliners.
Neither a dystopia, nor a post-apocalyptic film according to Peter Jackson, Mortal Engines takes us to a futuristic society, undermined by conflicts between different forces. Visually, it is a great show: Universal paid $ 110 million to reach this ambition and did not skimp on special effects.
A box office disappointment
Unfortunately, this will not be enough to attract spectators to theaters. Mortal Engines accused a loss of $ 178 million, returning at the same time in the top 10 of the least profitable films of all time. At the time of its release in 2018, he ranked 5th, behind Sinbad – The legend of the Seven Seas, John Carter, King Arthur: The Legend of Excalibur and Monster Cars.
On Allociné, the science fiction film offers itself a very honorable note of 3.1 out of 5. Spectators agree on the quality of the sets and special effects but deplore that of the scenario, which does not allow to attach to the characters or to develop them sufficiently.
Mortal Engines came out in the cinema at a bad time. It was presented by studios as a new big budget teen saga, a genre that was already starting to run out after the end of Hunger Games and Divergente. The spectators quickly disinterested in this universe which could have become a successful franchise.
But science fiction enthusiasts, who are looking for an unprecedented and original universe, could find their happiness there. But quickly, Mortal Engines leaves Netflix on June 14.
