One of the Most Hated Book to Screen Adaptations Enters the Netflix Top 10

New to Netflix on April 1, 2024, the ill-fated cinematic adaptation of Mortal Engines is finding new life on the streaming platform as the film enters the Top 10 most viewed movies. Released theatrically in November 2018, Mortal Engines is an apocalyptic steampunk fantasy based on the 2001 young adult novel by Philip Reeve. Produced and co-written by Peter Jackson, the story takes place in a post-apocalyptic future Earth where the population lives in giant rolling cities waging war for supremacy.

As war rages on, a masked assassin named Hester Shaw (Hera Hilmar) vows to avenge the power-starved Thaddeus Valentine (Hugo Weaving), the Lord Mayor seeking to control the globe. Despite the state-of-the-art VFX by Weta Digital, the film was eviscerated by critics for failing to capture the emotional nexus found in the novel. Now that eight years have passed, Mortal Engines has been revived on Netflix and is striking a chord among a new generation of movie fans who may not have read the novel. As such, it’s worth revisiting why Mortal Engines failed to resonate in 2018 and how it’s clinging to life in 2024 via its Netflix addition.

Praise for Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines Novel

Published in 2001, Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines is a young-adult science fiction novel that takes place more than 1,000 years after the “Sixty Minute War.” Following the nuclear destruction of Earth’s core, the surviving population has been conscripted into living in Predator Cities, humongous roving metropolises that float around looking for smaller cities to envelop. As Europe and Asia battle for supremacy, the story follows Hester Shaw, an orphaned assassin with a scarred face who hides behind a mask. Along with cyborg accomplice Shrike (Stephen Lang), Hester attempts to avenge her mother’s death by killing the ambitious Lord Mayor Thaddeus Valentine.

Although the 293-page novel was published in 2001, Peter Jackson didn’t obtain the rights until 2009. The film sat around for nearly a decade until it was finally adapted as a motion picture in 2018. Before the film entered production, Mortal Engines received several awards and plaudits to go with its financial success as a bestseller. In 2003, the novel won a Nestle Smarties Book Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award. Mortal Engines also made the shortlist in 2004 for the American Library Association’s Notable Books for Children Awards. In 2020, the novel was shortlisted for the Peter Blue Book Award’s 20th Anniversary honor, indicating the story’s staying power.

Given its awards, accolades, and built-in fanbase, Mortal Engines seemed poised to become a surefire hit movie for Peter Jackson, who was fresh off the directorial success of King Kong and The Lord of the Rings trilogy when he optioned the novel. Alas, several problems doomed the big-screen adaptation of Mortal Engines following Jackson’s decision to hire first-time director Christian Rivers to helm an expensive $100-150 million studio movie for Universal Pictures.

Critical Backlash to Mortal Engines’ Adaptation

The most common criticism of Mortal Engines is that it lacks the riveting story and emotional nucleus featured in the novel. Many critics cited Jackson and Rivers’ decision to prioritize the gaudy visual effects over an emotionally focused, character-driven plot. The film currently boasts an abysmal 26% Rotten Tomatoes score, with the critical consensus reading:

”
Mortal Engines
has no shortage of eye-catching special effects, but lacks enough high-octane narrative fuel to give this futuristic fantasy sufficient cinematic combustion.”

Specific blame is attributed to Jackson for handpicking first-time director Christian Rivers to shepherd such a big, ambitious sci-fi project without having experience. A longtime SFX technician and storyboard artist who had worked with Jackson since the early ’90s, Rivers won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for King Kong in 2006. Despite never making a feature film before, Jackson felt Rivers was ready to make his directorial debut with Mortal Engines, based on the strength of his Oscar-winning FX for King Kong. Unfortunately, the decision backfired.

The writer of this article had the (mis)fortune of reviewing the film at the time, and it’s hard not to echo the main critical gripe:

“Another glaring weak spot in the proceedings is just how many strands and subplots the film tries to negotiate. For one, the subplot involving Valentine’s daughter Katherine (Leila George) is superfluous and adds nothing other than a cute face and padded runtime. If the point was to make Valentine a fully rounded character, a flawed father and all, it did not play that way.”

Beyond the lack of emotion and overabundance of storylines meant to faithfully honor the 293-page novel, the subpar level of acting in the dystopian movie on Netflix also leaves much to be desired. By allocating most of the budgetary resources to CGI, VFX, and 3D formatting, the production could not afford A-list actors to make the hollow narrative believable. While talented character actors like Hugo Weaving and Stephen Lang do their best in bit roles, the leading actors are nowhere near as convincing as the supporting players and the protagonists are nowhere as likable as the antagonists. This harmed the narrative thrust of the movie and robbed the story of an emotionally satisfying conclusion.

Commercial Failure of Mortal Engines

Mortal Engines was not only panned by critics as being a big, loud, derivative blockbuster with nothing new to say, but it also bombed badly at the box office. Mortal Engines grossed just $83.7 million against its $100-150 price tag, resulting in an estimated $175 million loss for Universal when factoring in marketing and exhibition costs (via Box Office Mojo).

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Although the film performed badly enough to end talks of a sequel before they began, Reeve maintains that Rivers’ adaption is exemplary. Days after the film’s release, Reeve took to Twitter and wrote:

“Christian Rivers has done a fantastic job – a huge, visually awesome action movie with perfect pace and a genuine emotional core. There are many changes to the characters, world, and story, but it’s still fundamentally the same thing.”

Perhaps the emotional core cited by Reeve that eluded critics at the time will be discovered by a new audience now that Mortal Engines is available on Netflix. After all, the streaming platform is no stranger to courting controversial material and turning it into a popular must-watch event.

How Mortal Engines Has Been Revived on Netflix

On April 1, 2024, Mortal Engines was added to Netflix. Since the addition, the movie has steadily increased its viewership and has dipped its toes into the Top 10. While the success of a Netflix release is an inexact science, those watching Mortal Engines for the first time on the platform may not have read the source novel and may therefore forgive its unfaithful story elements and crammed plot points. The movie is much easier to take without contextualizing the story within the novel’s confines and can be enjoyed for what it’s worth at face value; a mindless spectacle that, despite its overly serious tone, shouldn’t be taken seriously at all.

Whether reading the novel before watching the movie, the newfound popularity of Mortal Engines also supports Netflix’s quantity over quality formula. Given the current culture of binge-watching, a far cry from appointment viewing on TV in the past, streamers in general churn out as much content as possible to satiate users’ appetites. Netflix has mastered the formula more than the others, allowing a critically drubbed box-office bomb like Mortal Engines to rev up a new life for binge-watchers. Despite being one of the most hated book adaptations at the time, Mortal Engines is perfectly tuned up to stay alive and well on Netflix for the foreseeable future.