Mortal Engines Review: 3 Ups & 7 Downs

3. There's A Forced, Unnecessary Romance

Because this is a YA movie, of course there has to be the obligatory romance between the star-crossed leads, and though it's certainly more tolerable than in many similar stories, it's still totally pointless and unnecessary.

Hester and Tom (Robert Sheehan) naturally begin the story wildly opposed to one another, with Hester being brutally standoffish towards Tom. Though we as the audience are sure this will change, it ultimately happens without feeling dramatically earned in any way.

Hester's icy core quickly melts away by act three and there are hints of love so forced they may well leave you cackling at how contrived they come across.

It makes Hester's already shaky character arc feel wildly inauthentic, and honestly, what's wrong with just having the two leads be friends?

Audiences are perfectly fine getting invested in a smart story without the need for gooey, convoluted love stories. It just needs to be smart first.