Film

Mortal Engines

A post-apocalyptic adventure where colossal wheeled cities hunt each other across a barren landscape. Visually stunning and unapologetically silly, it commits fully to its bonkers premise: London is a mobile predator. Chaotic fun for those who want spectacle over sense, built on Jackson's imagination if not his restraint.

TMDb rating3.1

If you liked this

Mad Max: Fury Road2015

Propulsive chase across a wasteland with inventive vehicular combat, practical effects that astonish, and a plot so simple it never gets in the way. Pure kinetic joy.

But Minimal dialogue and character development; if you need exposition or emotional beats, you'll feel starved.

Mad Max: Fury Road poster

Alita: Battle Angel2019

Visually ambitious cyberpunk with a teenage protagonist discovering agency and power. Earnest heart beneath the CGI, and unafraid to be strange and violent in equal measure.

But Fractured plot that feels like it's setting up sequels; the story doesn't quite land, and dialogue can be clunky.

Alita: Battle Angel poster

Blade Runner 20492017

Masterclass in production design and atmosphere. Contemplative sci-fi that lingers on beauty and asks what makes something human. Visually ravishing.

But Slow-paced and deliberately spare. If you're here for Mortal Engines' breakneck energy, this will feel glacial.

Blade Runner 2049 poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Mortal Engines

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Snowpiercer2013

Both pit ordinary people against a mobile machine of oppression. Both ask what happens when the system itself is the antagonist, not just the people running it.

Oppressed protagonist on a moving vehicle fighting a rigged system. Director Bong Joon-ho makes the confined space feel epic, and the class allegory bites. Furious and funny.

But Becomes increasingly bonkers and ridiculous; some find it brilliant, others find it derails into cartoon territory.

Snowpiercer poster
More like this (8)

The Hunger Games2012

Young protagonist in an oppressive world, thrust into danger and forced to navigate moral complexity. Action sequences that matter because the stakes feel real.

But First film in a series; you'll want to keep watching, and the sequels are longer and more uneven.

The Hunger Games poster

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets2017

Gloriously weird space adventure that doesn't care if you think it's silly. Practical and digital design clashing in fascinating ways; visually dense and weird.

But Incoherent plot and lead performances that struggle to ground anything. Beautiful but exhaustingly muddled.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets poster

Aquaman2018

Commitment to spectacle and mythmaking over plausibility. Underwater action sequences that feel genuinely fresh, and a willingness to be colourful and decorative.

But Plot mechanics are laughable, dialogue often cringe-worthy, and the tone whipsaws between earnest and camp.

Aquaman poster

Star Wars: The Force Awakens2015

A sprawling adventure that prioritizes adventure over realism. Practical sets mixed with effects, and characters discovering their place in a larger conflict.

But Structurally retreads the original trilogy; if you've seen Star Wars before, you know exactly where this goes.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens poster

The Golden Compass2007

Ambitious world-building with strange technology, airships, and a young heroine learning her power. Production design that tries to make the impossible feel lived-in.

But Severely truncated from its source; feels rushed and loses nuance. Didn't spawn sequels for good reason.

The Golden Compass poster

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones2013

Young cast stumbling into a shadow world with strange rules and cool weaponry. Gothic aesthetic and earnest melodrama that commits to its own logic.

But Exposition-heavy and occasionally unintentionally silly. The bones of a decent story are buried under clunky mechanics.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones poster

Howl's Moving Castle2004

Both feature a mobile structure as the heart of the story—not just a setting, but a character. Both ask what home means when it's built to move.

A castle that walks on mechanical chicken legs across a fantastical landscape. Miyazaki's romance and visual poetry; whimsical, tender, and endlessly inventive.

But Plotwise it meanders; if you need tight narrative structure, the dreamy pacing will frustrate.

Howl's Moving Castle poster

The Peripheral2022

Both build worlds where technology is so advanced it's almost incomprehensible, and both track ordinary people suddenly involved in something vastly larger than their comprehension.

Far-future technology that seems alien because it IS. Grounded characters in an incomprehensible world; haunting atmosphere and genuine mystery. Leaves you thinking.

But Only one season, cancelled before resolving its threads. Adaptation of dense source material that requires patience and rewatching.

The Peripheral poster

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