Mortal Engines Review: 3 Ups & 7 Downs

1. Strike Steals The Show

It's a bit bewildering that the most convincing and well-rounded performance in the movie is given by a CGI character, Strike (Stephen Lang), an undead hybrid of machine and human who serves as Hester's guardian.

It's all the more surprising that this garish-looking digital creature is the easy MVP because he wasn't even rendered with performance capture technology, due to the complexity of the character's movements.

Even so, Strike's mildly intriguing arc - and the hints at an anguished past - are by far the most compelling narrative thread here, and certainly far more so than Hester's own journey. It doesn't hurt that Lang's signature gravely voice lends itself terrifically to the tortured anti-hero.

To have the artificial digital character overshadow all the tangible humans clearly wasn't the intent here, so it's at once a win and a fail for the movie overall.

Will you be seeing Mortal Engines? Or have you seen it yet? If so, what did you think? Shout it out in the comments!