[wpdevart_youtube]IRsFc2gguEg[/wpdevart_youtube]MORTAL ENGINES ***
Dir: Christian Rivers (12A 120 mins)
Another Young Adult book franchise gets turned into celluloid, albeit with the backing of Hobbit and Lord of the Rings creative behemoth Peter Jackson and his trusted writing collaborators Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens. Phillip Reeve’s quartet of books about a future Earth destroyed by a 60 Minute War where major cities are on wheels and a scarred heroine called Hester Shaw played by Hera Hilmar, is out for vengeance on the man who killed her mother, the dastardly Thaddeus Valentine played by Rings and Hobbit veteran Hugo Weaving. Aided and abetted by surrogate android parent Shrike, mo-capped by Stephen Lang, potential romantic interest Tom played by Misfits’ Robert Sheehan and steampunk pirate Anna Fang played by Jihae. It’s a CGI heavy epic with Peter Jackson shepherding his former second unit director Rivers in his debut, promising to deliver on spectacle and create a rich new world to rival his Middle Earth adaptations. Blending cyberpunk Mad Maxian visuals with the Dickensian this should prove a diverting new franchise so long as CGI does not overwhelm character. Opens December 14