Just finished watching Mortal Engines, pretty much the closest movie ever done to something out of the Warhammer 40K universe I'd say. Visually very spectacular and quite unique, in part an orgy in victorianesque neo-gothic architecture and in part bits that are both quainter and more modern-looking all mixed in.
Storywise, it's the same re-hashed dreck you've seen in easily 150 action-adventure movies going back since the 1980s at least. The only novel thing in this movie I haven't seen before is the moving cities, and that doesn't make for a very deep story.
But seriously, is depth really the thing you look for in a movie like this? NO, I say, with quite a lot of emphasis. The story - such as it is - flows quite well, there's no overly long, dull, draggy 2nd act scenes that slows everything down, and the action scenes are well executed. Nothing mindbendingly spectacular about the fight sequences and the jumping-swinging-about bits, but overall competently executed, well put together and smartly and not too rapidly cut. Well, there was the boot knife, which I quite enjoyed. Good one, heh!
Hugo Weaving made a better bad guy here than as Red Skull. (Oops! Spoiler alert? Heh.) Not nearly as relentlessly menacing as Agent Smith perhaps, but then again, what could possibly be? Other actors were good enough too for an action movie, although I didn't recognize a single goddamn face (not even Stephen Lang, but then again he does play The Terminator here so how could I?), which just shows how utterly out of touch I am with the most recent generation of actors. Or maybe this movie is simply filled with unknowns.
...Like Star Wars, I could say. It's not a bad thing that you can't pin a dozen or more iconic roles to every actor in a movie.
Funny thing. One quiet, late scene in the movie had me almost wondering out loud if I was watching a computer animated 3D-rendered movie. The moody setting sun lighting was so soft and pink and pastel:y and otherwordly it made the actors look very much like almost-real CGI. rofl
Maybe in another decade or two.
A quite watchable 7/10 movie I'd say.