As I was first going into the movie theater to watch Mortal Engines, I didn’t have high expectations. I knew the studio lost an estimated $100 million.

I also knew from internet comments that the trailer gave away a lot of the plot points.

But I still enjoyed watching the film.

The movie is set on a futuristic, post-apocalyptic Earth in which cities need to mobilize to survive. London launches the most successful mobilization, and it ends up building a kind of empire, swallowing other cities for parts to feed its engine.

The story follows two main protagonists: Hester Shaw, who grew up outside of London with a goal of killing one of the big city’s leaders, Thaddeus Valentine; and Tom Natsworthy, a historian who grew up in London.

One of the best parts of the movie was the world-building. The dystopian future incorporates some really interesting ideas, which add to the conflict of the plot.

But this leads me to the element that is most lacking: the story. The screenwriters attempt to pack in too much, and as a result, many of the ideas were poorly explained and not built upon.

I was pretty confused about a few sections of the movie, so I had to read up on the book series that the movie was based on in order to actually understand what was going on.

Mortal Engines also didn’t seem to know which direction it wanted to go. One moment there was a serious scene in a museum in London, and a few seconds later, the camera moved to a statue of Despicable Me’s Minions. The filmmakers didn’t seem to know what they wanted the movie to be, and that is clear in the final product.

The effects and production quality, on the other hand, were amazing. There was clearly a large budget for the visual effects. The ships and cities looked great, and the explosions and other added visuals were realistic. The action scenes were a pleasure to watch and improved the quality of the movie.

Overall, the movie was enjoyable to watch, despite having a few flaws in certain areas.

I give Mortal Engines a 70/100.